Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

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

MPLX has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned 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 $49.89.

Mplx Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $50.80 on Monday. Mplx has a 1 year low of $37.04 and a 1 year high of $53.15. The firm has a market cap of $51.76 billion, a PE ratio of 11.98, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.43. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.45.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.53%. Mplx’s payout ratio is currently 90.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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 directly owns 14,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 60,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,701 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $876,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,204 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 15,320 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,032 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in 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.