Royal Bank of Canada Increases Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Price Target to $58.00

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price objective raised by Royal Bank of Canada from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on MPLX. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE:MPLX opened at $54.67 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $52.24 and its 200 day moving average is $48.18. Mplx has a fifty-two week low of $39.56 and a fifty-two week high of $54.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. 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 (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Mplx’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.75 per share, for a total transaction of $211,000.00. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 93,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,460,000 after buying an additional 7,792 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Mplx by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 21,520 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at about $292,000. Novem Group purchased a new stake in Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at about $814,000. Finally, First Heartland Consultants Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 9,857 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.