Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Grows Stock Holdings in Mplx Lp $MPLX

Key Points

• Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in Mplx Lp by 2.5% in Q4 to 2,315,921 shares (about 0.23% of MPLX), valuing the position at roughly $123.6 million and making MPLX its largest holding (~3.7% of the fund).
• Analysts are broadly positive: MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target of $61.89, while recent price targets from firms range from $55 to $73 and ratings span Strong Buy/Buy/Hold.
• MPLX beat Q4 estimates with EPS of $1.17 (vs. $1.10 expected) on $5.99 billion in revenue, and it pays a quarterly dividend of $1.0765 (annualized $4.31) for a yield of about 7.7% and a payout ratio near 89%.

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,315,921 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 57,247 shares during the period. Mplx comprises approximately 3.7% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY owned approximately 0.23% of Mplx worth $123,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MPLX. Solstein Capital LLC bought a new stake in Mplx in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Mplx during the third quarter worth $38,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MPLX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Mplx from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Mplx from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.89.

Mplx Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE MPLX opened at $55.79 on Monday. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $47.80 and a 1-year high of $59.98. The company has a market cap of $56.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.54.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The pipeline company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.07. Mplx had a net margin of 37.79% and a return on equity of 34.37%. The company had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. Mplx's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $1.0765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.7%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio is currently 89.42%.

Mplx Profile

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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