Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its target price raised by equities researchers at UBS Group from $51.00 to $55.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 17.05% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.44.

Mplx Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:MPLX traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.99. The stock had a trading volume of 588,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,854,565. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Mplx has a one year low of $35.31 and a one year high of $47.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.43 and a 200 day moving average of $42.68. The company has a market capitalization of $47.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 60,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Mcdonald Partners LLC grew its position in Mplx by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 17,180 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,701 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $876,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,204 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. 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.