Mplx Lp $MPLX Shares Bought by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Key Points

• Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its MPLX stake by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 172,000 shares and bringing its total holding to 2,343,689 shares worth about $125.1 million.
• MPLX reported weaker-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting $0.90 EPS versus $1.05 expected and revenue of $2.86 billion versus $3.09 billion expected, though the company still delivered a strong net margin and return on equity.
• The company continued its high dividend payout, paying a quarterly dividend of $1.0765 per share, which annualizes to $4.31 per share and a yield of 7.6%.

Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,343,689 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 172,000 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Mplx worth $125,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,698,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 2,315,921 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $123,601,000 after buying an additional 57,247 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 126.0% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 43,234 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,307,000 after buying an additional 24,107 shares during the period. Texas Yale Capital Corp. grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 299,845 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $14,977,000 after buying an additional 24,405 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mplx by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 149,367 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,461,000 after buying an additional 20,777 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE:MPLX opened at $56.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24, a PEG ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $55.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.73. Mplx Lp has a fifty-two week low of $47.80 and a fifty-two week high of $59.98.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 36.38%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $1.0765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.6%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Mplx from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Mplx from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of Mplx from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.60.

About Mplx

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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