Csenge Advisory Group Sells 18,579 Shares of Mplx Lp $MPLX

Key Points

• Csenge Advisory Group cut its Mplx position by 68.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 18,579 shares and leaving it with 8,692 shares valued at about $464,000.
• Mplx reported Q1 earnings of $0.90 per share, below the $1.05 consensus estimate, while revenue of $2.86 billion also missed expectations and fell 2.8% year over year.
• The company continued its high dividend profile, paying a quarterly dividend of $1.0765 per share, which annualizes to $4.31 and yields about 7.8%.

Csenge Advisory Group reduced its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 68.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,692 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 18,579 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group's holdings in Mplx were worth $464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Mplx by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 14,474 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Mplx by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 35,155 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 4,072 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Mplx by 42.2% in the fourth quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 16,341 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 4,850 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Mplx by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 44,463 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intrua Financial LLC grew its position in Mplx by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 7,070 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $55.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $56.29 and a 200 day moving average of $55.42. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $47.80 and a 52-week high of $59.98.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 36.38%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $1.0765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.8%. Mplx's payout ratio is currently 93.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MPLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Mplx from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.60.

About Mplx

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.

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