Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $52.09 and last traded at $52.25, with a volume of 371318 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MPLX shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.89.

Mplx Trading Up 3.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $53.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $48.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.17.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.26%. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total value of $188,960.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,750 shares in the company, valued at $696,790. This represents a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MPLX. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 7.2% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 149,509 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,647,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 387.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 23,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 18,714 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 280,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,488,000 after acquiring an additional 19,320 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV boosted its position in Mplx by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $294,699,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,000 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,276,828 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $56,768,000 after acquiring an additional 64,714 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

About Mplx

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.