Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $49.74 and last traded at $49.74, with a volume of 1616 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $49.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPLX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.44.

Mplx Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $45.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.96. The company has a market capitalization of $50.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.68%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value of $188,960.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares in the company, valued at $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Mplx by 73.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its position in Mplx by 450.0% during the second quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 2nd quarter valued at $67,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the second quarter valued at about $88,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.