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

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $55.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Mplx traded as high as $47.71 and last traded at $47.48, with a volume of 214664 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.46.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.44.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 0.4% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 60,475 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,689,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Mcdonald Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 17,180 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 1.4% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,701 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $876,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.0% during the third quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,204 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Mplx by 10.4% during the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock's 50-day moving average is $44.71 and its 200 day moving average is $42.82. The stock has a market cap of $48.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. Mplx's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This is an increase from Mplx's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.33%.

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.