Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank of Canada Analyst Says

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from $50.00 to $52.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.73% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their target price on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.67.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE:MPLX traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $47.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 259,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,854,163. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $44.51 and its 200-day moving average is $42.73. Mplx has a fifty-two week low of $35.51 and a fifty-two week high of $47.62. The firm has a market cap of $48.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Mplx by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 60,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC grew 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 valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,701 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $876,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Mplx by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,204 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Mplx by 10.4% in the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.