Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Position Increased by NBW Capital LLC

NBW Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 28.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 271,861 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,019 shares during the period. Mplx comprises approximately 2.2% of NBW Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. NBW Capital LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $9,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 104,751.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,772,138 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,291,317,000 after buying an additional 69,705,594 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Mplx by 18.9% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 28,771,793 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,023,413,000 after acquiring an additional 4,579,152 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,917,505 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $744,036,000 after purchasing an additional 809,273 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,463,737 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $237,348,000 after purchasing an additional 154,529 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,869,436 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $208,776,000 after purchasing an additional 639,199 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE:MPLX traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $40.19. 813,878 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,165,241. The stock has a market cap of $40.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $40.16 and its 200-day moving average is $37.71. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $33.12 and a 1-year high of $42.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.15. Mplx had a net margin of 34.82% and a return on equity of 31.85%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.46%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPLX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their price objective on Mplx from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $43.86.

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.