Analysts Set Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Price Target at $46.33

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.33.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MPLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Mplx in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,253,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 4,274.2% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 811,371 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 792,822 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Mplx by 53.9% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,826,484 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $75,909,000 after purchasing an additional 639,851 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 23.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,028,327 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $111,200,000 after purchasing an additional 574,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV lifted its position in Mplx by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,740,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $100,631,000 after purchasing an additional 480,000 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX stock opened at $43.78 on Thursday. Mplx has a one year low of $34.52 and a one year high of $43.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.37 and a 200-day moving average of $41.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $44.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.17. Mplx had a net margin of 35.95% and a return on equity of 32.68%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.77%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.63%.

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.