Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• MPLX has an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 13 research firms, with an average 1-year price target of $61.60.
• The company recently reported Q1 earnings of $0.90 per share, missing estimates of $1.05, on revenue of $2.86 billion, also below expectations.
• MPLX continues to offer a high dividend yield, paying a quarterly dividend of $1.0765 per share for an annualized yield of 7.5%.

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.60.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Mplx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Mplx from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Mplx in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Mplx from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mplx from a "buy (a)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Belfer Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Belfer Management LLC now owns 7,849 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,736 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC now owns 12,598 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Mplx by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 22,175 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,266,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its position in Mplx by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 5,658 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $57.10 on Friday. Mplx has a 1 year low of $47.80 and a 1 year high of $59.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.24. The company has a market capitalization of $57.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.15). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 36.38%.The business had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.21 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $1.0765 per share. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Mplx's dividend payout ratio is 93.29%.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP NYSE: MPLX is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership's asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.

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