Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

MPLX has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned 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 $49.44.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE MPLX opened at $49.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.67, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $45.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.96. Mplx has a 52 week low of $35.51 and a 52 week high of $49.54.

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). The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.73%. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. 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 that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total transaction of $188,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,750 shares in the company, valued at $696,790. This trade represents a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Mplx by 7.4% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 280,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $12,488,000 after purchasing an additional 19,320 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $294,699,000 after buying an additional 2,725,000 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Mplx by 47.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 51,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after buying an additional 16,637 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 81,884 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,487,000 after acquiring an additional 14,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Mplx by 27.2% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 52,128 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,318,000 after acquiring an additional 11,144 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mplx Company Profile

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.