Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Sets New 52-Week High at $42.90

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $42.90 and last traded at $42.03, with a volume of 1130150 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MPLX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.86.

Mplx Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.11. The company has a market cap of $42.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.85% and a net margin of 34.82%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Mplx's payout ratio is 89.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PSI Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 63.6% during the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the third quarter worth about $33,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the first quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

About Mplx

MPLX LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Logistics and Storage, and Gathering and Processing. The company is involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas; gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; gathering, storage, transportation, and distribution of crude oil and refined products, as well as other hydrocarbon-based products and renewables; and sale of residue gas and condensate.