Hennessy Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 14.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 179,549 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 23,100 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Mplx were worth $9,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MPLX. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Mplx by 139.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the period. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the first quarter worth approximately $117,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

Mplx stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $51.44. 962,620 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,666,292. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. 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 $52.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.74. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $50.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.98.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.44%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MPLX. Barclays dropped their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Mplx from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.50.

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.