Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $54.79 and last traded at $54.25, with a volume of 184054 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $53.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MPLX. StockNews.com lowered Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.11.

Mplx Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. Mplx’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.20%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.74%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Mplx by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the third quarter valued at $51,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in Mplx during the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Mplx by 139.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.