Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $54.74 and last traded at $53.76, with a volume of 1808982 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MPLX. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.11.

Mplx Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s payout ratio is presently 90.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Mplx by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Mplx by 139.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.