Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $54.74 and last traded at $53.76, with a volume of 1808982 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.63.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.11.

Mplx Trading Down 0.8 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.42. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.16%. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 90.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MPLX. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Mplx by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Mplx by 139.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Logistics and Storage (L&S) and Gathering and Processing (G&P) segments. The Logistics and Storage segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.