Stephens Inc. AR Increases Holdings in Mplx Lp $MPLX

Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 298.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,277 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,622 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Mplx were worth $6,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mplx by 216.2% during the second quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

MPLX opened at $55.95 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.63. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $44.60 and a 52-week high of $56.30. The company has a market cap of $56.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 37.61% and a return on equity of 34.14%. Equities analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $1.0765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.7%. Mplx’s payout ratio is currently 91.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MPLX. Zacks Research upgraded Mplx from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Mplx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Mplx in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Mplx in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Mplx Profile

MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership’s asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.