Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group lifted 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. Barclays increased their target price on Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Mplx from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $45.11.

Mplx Trading Down 0.1 %

MPLX opened at $42.36 on Monday. Mplx has a 1-year low of $33.62 and a 1-year high of $42.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.92, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.63%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 18.9% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 28,771,793 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,023,413,000 after buying an additional 4,579,152 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Mplx by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,463,737 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $237,348,000 after acquiring an additional 154,529 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its stake in Mplx by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 5,224,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $217,148,000 after purchasing an additional 255,211 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,200,759 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $216,144,000 after purchasing an additional 201,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,028,327 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $111,200,000 after purchasing an additional 574,737 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by 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.