Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.11.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX opened at $53.40 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. Mplx has a 1 year low of $38.44 and a 1 year high of $54.74. The company has a market capitalization of $54.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MPLX. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in Mplx during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 139.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the period. 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.