Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $59.54 and last traded at $58.7540, with a volume of 158569 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $58.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MPLX shares. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Mplx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Mplx from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Zacks Research raised Mplx from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.29.

Mplx Trading Up 0.1%

The stock has a market cap of $60.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The pipeline company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 37.79%.Mplx’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $1.0765 dividend. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 89.42%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MPLX. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Mplx by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 26,409,654 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,319,162,000 after purchasing an additional 325,451 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Mplx by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,561,938 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $977,119,000 after buying an additional 143,361 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 8.3% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,873,619 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $508,590,000 after acquiring an additional 757,569 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 4.4% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,060,024 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $352,648,000 after acquiring an additional 300,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,763,110 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $307,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104,510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

About Mplx

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.