Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America started coverage on Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.50.

Mplx Price Performance

MPLX opened at $53.78 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.91. Mplx has a 12-month low of $37.44 and a 12-month high of $53.93.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 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 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Mplx will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.09%.

Insider Activity at Mplx

In other Mplx news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of Mplx 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. ING Groep NV grew its stake in Mplx by 69.8% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $294,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,000 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 5,070.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,797,000 after buying an additional 958,881 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Mplx by 387.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 823,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $36,611,000 after buying an additional 654,500 shares during the period. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its stake in shares of Mplx by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,498,796 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $66,636,000 after acquiring an additional 217,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mplx during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,644,000. 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.