Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its target price upped by Barclays from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on MPLX. UBS Group raised their target price on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com cut Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Truist Financial raised their price target on Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.89.

Mplx Stock Up 0.9 %

MPLX stock opened at $48.77 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. Mplx has a fifty-two week low of $36.76 and a fifty-two week high of $51.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.43.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Mplx’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.84%. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 90.09%.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $696,790. This trade represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Mplx during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the 2nd quarter valued at $67,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 393.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,751 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

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.