Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Raised to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

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

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MPLX. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.56.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $48.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,021,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,091,434. The company has a market cap of $49.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.43. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.57. Mplx has a 52-week low of $36.76 and a 52-week high of $51.94.

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). The company 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%. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Mplx

In related news, VP Carl Kristopher Hagedorn sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.24, for a total transaction of $188,960.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $696,790. The trade was a 21.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 23.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,764 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 2,785 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 21,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its stake in Mplx by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 24,201 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,488 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in shares of Mplx in the third quarter worth $2,023,000. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.