Mplx Lp to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.85 (NYSE:MPLX)

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.85 per share by the pipeline company on Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd.

Mplx has increased its dividend by an average of 4.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 10 years. Mplx has a dividend payout ratio of 78.9% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Research analysts expect Mplx to earn $4.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 78.0%.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE MPLX opened at $41.76 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.48 and its 200 day moving average is $37.92. Mplx has a fifty-two week low of $33.12 and a fifty-two week high of $42.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 1.35.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.88 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.85% and a net margin of 34.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.86.

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.