Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $52.09 and last traded at $52.25, with a volume of 371318 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPLX has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 increased their target price on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.89.

Mplx Stock Up 3.0 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $48.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $53.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.43.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The firm 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 for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.26%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.33%.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value of $188,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ING Groep NV raised its position in Mplx by 69.8% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $294,699,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,000 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in Mplx by 0.8% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 5,735,562 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $255,003,000 after purchasing an additional 45,271 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mplx by 0.6% in the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,580,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $248,089,000 after acquiring an additional 34,659 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its stake in Mplx by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,933,486 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $85,963,000 after buying an additional 90,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,506,962 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $72,123,000 after acquiring an additional 8,166 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Company Profile

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.