StockNews.com Lowers Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) to Buy

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MPLX. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.11.

Mplx Price Performance

Mplx stock traded up $0.90 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $42.32. 1,429,981 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,110,459. The firm has a market cap of $43.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.47. Mplx has a 1-year low of $33.33 and a 1-year high of $42.90.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.70% and a net margin of 34.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mplx by 452.1% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 254,868 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,066,000 after purchasing an additional 208,701 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 11.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 372,237 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $13,240,000 after purchasing an additional 37,080 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 17.6% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 247,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,801,000 after purchasing an additional 37,060 shares during the period. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 3.4% in the third quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 57,998 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp bought a new position in Mplx during the third quarter worth $501,000. 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.