Fayez Sarofim & Co Grows Position in MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX)

Key Points

• Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its stake in MPLX LP by 105.5%, acquiring an additional 21,961 shares, bringing its total holdings to 42,775 shares valued at approximately $2.29 million.
• MPLX recently reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, which was below the consensus estimate of $1.08, and its revenue of $2.79 billion missed expectations of $3.13 billion.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9565, translating to an annualized yield of 7.4%, with a payout ratio of 90.74%.

Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its position in MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 105.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,775 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,961 shares during the quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co's holdings in MPLX were worth $2,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of MPLX in the first quarter worth $33,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MPLX in the first quarter worth $37,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MPLX in the first quarter worth $48,000. PSI Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MPLX by 32.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of MPLX in the first quarter worth $65,000. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

MPLX Stock Performance

Shares of MPLX stock traded down $1.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.41. 1,843,556 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,309,280. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.04. MPLX LP has a 1 year low of $39.95 and a 1 year high of $54.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.60.

MPLX (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that MPLX LP will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

MPLX Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.6%. MPLX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on MPLX from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut MPLX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.63.

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.