Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $55.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Mplx traded as high as $47.71 and last traded at $47.48, with a volume of 214664 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $47.46.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on MPLX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.44.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. CWM LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its position in shares of Mplx by 450.0% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mplx in the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the 2nd quarter worth about $67,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Trading Up 0.4 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $48.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. Mplx’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.33%.

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.