Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays raised their target price 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. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America began coverage on Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.56.

Mplx Stock Down 0.1 %

MPLX stock opened at $48.42 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. Mplx has a 12 month low of $36.76 and a 12 month high of $51.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.33 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.83.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.9565 dividend. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.90%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value of $188,960.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $696,790. This trade represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mplx

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Mplx by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 149,509 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,647,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 387.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 23,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 18,714 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mplx by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 280,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,488,000 after purchasing an additional 19,320 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV grew its holdings in Mplx by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $294,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Mplx by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,276,828 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $56,768,000 after buying an additional 64,714 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

About Mplx

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Logistics and Storage (L&S) and Gathering and Processing (G&P) segments. The Logistics and Storage segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.