Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an underperform rating and a $43.00 target price on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.67.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $44.32 on Thursday. Mplx has a 12 month low of $35.06 and a 12 month high of $45.24. The stock has a market cap of $45.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.68% and a net margin of 35.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.67%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 87.63%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 2.4% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 14,825,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $631,435,000 after purchasing an additional 353,324 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 34,659 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its stake in Mplx by 5.1% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 5,224,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $217,148,000 after acquiring an additional 255,211 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,200,759 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $216,144,000 after buying an additional 201,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 2,571,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $109,534,000 after buying an additional 186,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

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.