ELCO Management Co. LLC Cuts Stock Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

ELCO Management Co. LLC lowered its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,818 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 8,390 shares during the period. Mplx makes up about 2.6% of ELCO Management Co. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. ELCO Management Co. LLC's holdings in Mplx were worth $4,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Mplx in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPLX has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $53.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of Mplx in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.63.

Mplx Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MPLX traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $50.95. 894,024 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,653,471. Mplx Lp has a fifty-two week low of $39.95 and a fifty-two week high of $54.87. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $50.98 and a 200-day moving average of $51.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.73.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.34% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Mplx's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.22%.

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.