Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

MPLX has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.56.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX opened at $48.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $49.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.43. Mplx has a 1-year low of $36.76 and a 1-year high of $51.94. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.89%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.09%.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In other news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value of $188,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 11.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,925 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 10.8% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 98,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,177,000 after buying an additional 9,585 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 19.6% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 52,240 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after buying an additional 8,567 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 145.9% in the second quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 19,768 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $842,000 after buying an additional 11,728 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 269.9% in the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 8,690 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 6,341 shares during the period. 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.