StockNews.com Downgrades Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MPLX. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.11.

Mplx Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MPLX opened at $53.89 on Friday. Mplx has a 52 week low of $38.22 and a 52 week high of $54.52. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $49.99 and its 200 day moving average is $46.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.42.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 90.97%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Mplx by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Mplx in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Mplx by 139.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $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.