Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Stock Position Raised by Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 280,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,320 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $12,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Mplx by 47.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 51,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,150,000 after buying an additional 16,637 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 22.0% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter valued at $799,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 40.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 361,257 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,386,000 after purchasing an additional 104,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the 2nd quarter valued at $308,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $44.32 on Tuesday. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $35.07 and a one year high of $45.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.86 and a 200-day moving average of $42.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $45.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 35.95% and a return on equity of 32.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is 82.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MPLX shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America started 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.67.

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.