Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Truist Financial

Key Points

• Truist initiated coverage on Mplx with a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price target, implying about a 14.61% upside from the current share price.
• The stock's consensus from analysts is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $61.56 (one Strong Buy, six Buy, five Hold) and several recent target increases from firms like Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and JPMorgan.
• Mplx reported a quarterly beat with EPS $1.17 vs. $1.10 estimate and revenue of $5.99B (consensus $3.23B), revenue up 6.2% year-over-year, and strong profitability metrics (ROE 34.37%, net margin 37.79%).

Analysts at Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price target on the pipeline company's stock. Truist Financial's price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.61% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on MPLX. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Mplx from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Mplx from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.56.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $58.46 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.74. Mplx has a fifty-two week low of $44.60 and a fifty-two week high of $59.84. The firm has a market cap of $59.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.56.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The pipeline company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 37.79%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,611,824 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $280,311,000 after purchasing an additional 120,216 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,698,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new stake in Mplx during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $990,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mplx by 53.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 103,351 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,162,000 after buying an additional 35,869 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis raised its holdings in Mplx by 1,585.3% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis now owns 403,758 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $20,798,000 after buying an additional 379,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

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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