Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.08

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of 1.0765 per share by the pipeline company on Friday, August 14th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th.

Mplx has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 9 consecutive years. Mplx has a payout ratio of 88.7% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Research analysts expect Mplx to earn $4.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 92.5%.

Mplx Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of MPLX traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $59.69. The company had a trading volume of 157,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,788,736. The company has a market capitalization of $60.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Mplx has a one year low of $47.80 and a one year high of $59.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $56.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.48.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.15). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 36.38%.The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Mplx in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Mplx from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mplx from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Mplx from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership’s asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.