Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) PT Raised to $49.00

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price target upped by UBS Group from $46.00 to $49.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on MPLX. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $43.86.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MPLX opened at $39.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $40.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $40.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.67. Mplx has a 52-week low of $33.12 and a 52-week high of $42.89.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 34.82% and a return on equity of 31.85%. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.53%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 89.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Mplx during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 15.2% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 27,907 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 49.5% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 12,826 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 4,247 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the first quarter worth $205,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 14.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 9,688 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.