MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX) Receives $55.89 Average Target Price from Analysts

Key Points

• Mplx Lp has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from nine analysts, with one sell, one hold, and seven buy recommendations.
• The average one-year price target among brokers for Mplx shares is $55.89, following recent upgrades from Morgan Stanley and Barclays.
• Mplx announced a quarterly dividend of $0.9565 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 7.6% and a payout ratio of 90.97%.

MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the nine analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.8889.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MPLX from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on MPLX from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on MPLX from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered MPLX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd.

MPLX Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MPLX traded down $0.24 during trading on Monday, reaching $50.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,243,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,252,123. MPLX has a fifty-two week low of $43.53 and a fifty-two week high of $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business's 50-day moving average price is $50.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.04. The company has a market cap of $51.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.74.

MPLX (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.05). MPLX had a net margin of 35.44% and a return on equity of 30.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that MPLX will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MPLX Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.6%. MPLX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.97%.

Institutional Trading of MPLX

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in MPLX by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 21,520 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,030,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in MPLX by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 93,181 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,460,000 after buying an additional 7,792 shares during the last quarter. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in MPLX by 37.4% during the 1st quarter. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC now owns 211,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $11,293,000 after buying an additional 57,400 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its holdings in MPLX by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 32,476 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,738,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MPLX by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,943 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MPLX

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Crude Oil and Products Logistics and Natural Gas and NGL Services segments. The Crude Oil and Products Logistics segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.