Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $49.00 to $51.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Mplx traded as high as $44.53 and last traded at $44.53, with a volume of 382103 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $44.05.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MPLX. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Mplx from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Mplx in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $46.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Mplx in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Mplx by 73.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $45.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued 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 yield of 7.64%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio 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.