Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03, Zacks reports. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Mplx's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPLX traded down $1.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 658,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,751,717. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.76. Mplx has a 52 week low of $39.84 and a 52 week high of $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.72%. Mplx's payout ratio is 90.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MPLX shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com cut Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.88.

About Mplx

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Logistics and Storage (L&S) and Gathering and Processing (G&P) segments. The Logistics and Storage segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.

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