Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Cuts Stake in Mplx Lp $MPLX

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in MPLX LP by 12.6%, selling 174,346 shares and maintaining a total of 1,204,248 shares valued at approximately $64.45 million.
• MPLX reported second-quarter earnings of $1.03 per share, falling short of analyst estimates of $1.08, along with a revenue of $2.79 billion, which was below expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.9565 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 7.5% and a payout ratio of 90.74%.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,204,248 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 174,346 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.12% of Mplx worth $64,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in Mplx in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the 1st quarter worth $48,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the first quarter valued at $65,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MPLX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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, August 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mplx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Mplx from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.89.

Mplx Stock Up 1.0%

Mplx stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $50.93. 1,340,648 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,522,597. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $42.06 and a 52-week high of $54.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business's 50-day moving average price is $50.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.97%.

Mplx 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.