Adams Asset Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Mplx Lp $MPLX

Key Points

• Adams Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mplx Lp by 7.1% in Q2, owning 209,589 shares worth approximately $10.8 million, making it the firm's 18th largest position.
• Mplx reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.03, missing expectations, with a revenue of $2.79 billion, down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.9565, with a dividend yield of 7.5% and a payout ratio of 90.97%.

Adams Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 209,589 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 13,829 shares during the quarter. Mplx accounts for 1.5% of Adams Asset Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Adams Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Mplx were worth $10,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Colonial River Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mplx by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 11,603 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Mplx by 1.8% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,603 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Mplx by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 21,520 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Mplx by 1.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,743 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $789,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 11.7% in the second quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 2,434 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Mplx from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Mplx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.89.

Mplx Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded down $0.20 on Friday, hitting $50.55. 373,863 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,577,092. The firm's 50-day moving average is $50.75 and its 200 day moving average is $51.11. The company has a market capitalization of $51.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.74. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $43.53 and a 1-year high of $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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). The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.13 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 35.44% and a return on equity of 30.95%. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.97%.

About Mplx

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.