Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Price Target Increased to $47.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price objective raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $45.00 to $47.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MPLX. StockNews.com upgraded Mplx from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Mplx from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $45.11.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPLX opened at $41.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $41.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.19. Mplx has a fifty-two week low of $33.12 and a fifty-two week high of $42.90.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.01). Mplx had a return on equity of 31.70% and a net margin of 34.96%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Mplx’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.63%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 363,397 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $12,926,000 after acquiring an additional 8,257 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 4.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 473,693 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $16,849,000 after acquiring an additional 20,143 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in Mplx by 405.7% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 47,395 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,686,000 after buying an additional 38,022 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Mplx during the third quarter worth $209,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Mplx during the third quarter worth $404,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.