Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. 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. Truist Financial increased their price target on Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.44.

Mplx Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $49.50 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $50.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.37. Mplx has a 1-year low of $35.51 and a 1-year high of $49.54. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.94.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.73%. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total transaction of $188,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Mplx by 2.4% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 14,825,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $631,435,000 after acquiring an additional 353,324 shares during the period. ING Groep NV grew its stake in Mplx by 69.8% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $294,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,000 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its stake in Mplx by 0.8% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 5,735,562 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $255,003,000 after purchasing an additional 45,271 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its position in Mplx by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,580,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $248,089,000 after purchasing an additional 34,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 5,224,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $217,148,000 after buying an additional 255,211 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

About Mplx

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.