Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Given New $55.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price target lifted by Truist Financial from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

MPLX has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.44.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX stock opened at $47.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $48.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.37. Mplx has a 52 week low of $35.51 and a 52 week high of $47.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.71 and a 200-day moving average of $42.82.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter worth $41,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in 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 raised its stake in 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 bought a new stake in Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Mplx in the 2nd quarter valued at about $67,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mplx Company Profile

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.