Mplx Lp (MPLX) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 8th

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of 0.9565 per share by the pipeline company on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85.

Mplx has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 11 years. Mplx has a dividend payout ratio of 86.8% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Analysts expect Mplx to earn $4.51 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.83 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 84.9%.

Mplx Price Performance

MPLX stock opened at $45.34 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.46. The stock has a market cap of $46.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. Mplx has a 1 year low of $35.07 and a 1 year high of $45.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.05). Mplx had a net margin of 35.95% and a return on equity of 32.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.67.

Mplx Company Profile

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.