Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $49.74 and last traded at $49.74, with a volume of 1616 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $49.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MPLX shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.44.

Mplx Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.07. The company has a market cap of $50.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its 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). Mplx had a return on equity of 32.70% and a net margin of 36.77%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.71%. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased 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 worth $12,488,000 after purchasing an additional 19,320 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 69.8% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $294,699,000 after buying an additional 2,725,000 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 22.0% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 81,884 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,487,000 after buying an additional 14,782 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Mplx by 27.2% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 52,128 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,318,000 after acquiring an additional 11,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Mplx by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 361,257 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,386,000 after acquiring an additional 104,218 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

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.