Citigroup Inc. Increases Stock Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Mplx by 17.4%, holding approximately $29 million worth of the pipeline company as of its latest SEC filing.
• Mplx reported earnings per share of $1.03, falling short of expectations, with quarterly revenue also below consensus estimates at $2.79 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9565 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend yield of 7.6%.

Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 17.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 542,089 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 80,245 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Mplx worth $29,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its stake in Mplx by 38.2% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 7,788,063 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $416,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153,490 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 141.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $95,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161,714 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at $41,917,000. Fractal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 2,256,503 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $120,768,000 after acquiring an additional 345,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,822,709 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $97,551,000 after acquiring an additional 315,747 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MPLX traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,088,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,517,815. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $41.80 and a 1-year high of $54.87.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 35.44% and a return on equity of 30.95%. Mplx's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.6%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on MPLX shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mplx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.11.

Mplx Company Profile

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.