Stifel Nicolaus Raises MPLX (NYSE:MPLX) Price Target to $60.00

Key Points

• Mplx's target price has been raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $57.00 to $60.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.63% from the stock's last close.
• Despite the price target increase, Wall Street Zen downgraded Mplx from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, displaying mixed analyst sentiment.
• Mplx reported a net margin of 35.44% but missed earnings expectations, with an EPS of $1.03 compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08.

MPLX (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) had its target price increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $57.00 to $60.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the pipeline company's stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on MPLX. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MPLX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of MPLX from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.11.

MPLX Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded down $0.1490 during trading on Thursday, reaching $49.2710. The stock had a trading volume of 495,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,626,426. MPLX has a 52 week low of $41.83 and a 52 week high of $54.87. The business's 50-day moving average price is $51.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.73.

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

MPLX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.8%. MPLX's payout ratio is 90.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in MPLX in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of MPLX during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MPLX during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MPLX by 216.2% during the 2nd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MPLX during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

MPLX Company Profile

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.