Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price objective lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Mplx Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $54.32 on Monday. 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 has a 52-week low of $39.56 and a 52-week high of $54.87. The company has a market capitalization of $55.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.49 and a 200 day moving average of $48.31.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.04%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.74%.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In other news, VP Shawn M. Lyon purchased 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. This trade represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MPLX. CFO4Life Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 19,200 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $919,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mplx by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 60,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Mplx by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 21,520 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GraniteShares Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mplx by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 51,441 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.