Bank of America Begins Coverage on Mplx (NYSE:MPLX)

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

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on MPLX. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.67.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX stock opened at $44.32 on Thursday. Mplx has a 52 week low of $35.06 and a 52 week high of $45.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.17. The firm has a market cap of $45.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 35.95% and a return on equity of 32.68%. Mplx’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPLX. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the first quarter valued at $92,000. Sanders Morris Harris LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 1st quarter valued at about $325,000. True North Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 1st quarter worth approximately $369,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,551,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Mplx during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

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.