Castellan Group Takes $3.09 Million Position in MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX)

Key Points

• Castellan Group has initiated a new investment in MPLX LP, acquiring 57,653 shares worth approximately $3.09 million.
• MPLX reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.10, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.8%.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9565 per share, leading to an annualized yield of 7.3%, with a payout ratio of 88.45%.

Castellan Group purchased a new position in MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 57,653 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $3,086,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in MPLX in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MPLX during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MPLX during the first quarter valued at about $48,000. PSI Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MPLX by 32.5% during the first quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in shares of MPLX in the 1st quarter worth about $65,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MPLX shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded MPLX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Barclays raised their target price on MPLX from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.63.

MPLX Price Performance

Shares of MPLX traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $51.93. 1,331,363 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,049,724. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.18 and a 200-day moving average of $51.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $53.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.73. MPLX LP has a one year low of $39.95 and a one year high of $54.87.

MPLX (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. MPLX had a net margin of 36.34% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MPLX LP will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MPLX Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. MPLX's payout ratio is currently 88.45%.

About MPLX

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Crude Oil and Products Logistics and Natural Gas and NGL Services segments. The Crude Oil and Products Logistics segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.