Wedmont Private Capital Increases Stock Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 24.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,122 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,959 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Mplx were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 63.6% during the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mplx during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the first quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the first quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MPLX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Mplx from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Mplx from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.22.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded up $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.62. 3,764,428 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,995,443. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.98 and its 200-day moving average is $40.86. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $34.47 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.17. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.70% and a net margin of 34.96%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.63%.

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.