Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on MPLX. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Mplx from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Mplx in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Mplx in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Mplx from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.14.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $58.23 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08, a PEG ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Mplx has a 52 week low of $44.60 and a 52 week high of $59.84.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The pipeline company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 37.79% and a return on equity of 34.37%. Mplx’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $1.0765 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.4%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the second quarter worth about $26,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mplx by 216.2% during the second quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.