Mplx Lp $MPLX Stock: International Assets Investment Management LLC Grows Stake

Key Points

• International Assets Investment Management increased its MPLX stake by 264.5% in the third quarter, to 30,000 shares valued at about $1.69 million.
• Analysts have a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $63.90; 7 analysts rate the stock Buy or Strong Buy, while 7 rate it Hold.
• MPLX slightly beat quarterly earnings expectations at $1.15 per share but fell short on revenue. It also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.2111 per share, an annualized yield of about 8.7%.

International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 264.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,769 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Mplx were worth $1,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MPLX. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in Mplx in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Mplx by 81.5% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 559 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the first quarter worth about $46,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the first quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the first quarter worth about $88,000. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MPLX. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Mplx from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mplx from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Mplx from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.90.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE:MPLX opened at $55.91 on Monday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $58.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Mplx Lp has a twelve month low of $50.22 and a twelve month high of $60.95.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 30.30% and a net margin of 32.91%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.2111 per share. This is a boost from Mplx's previous quarterly dividend of $1.0765. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.7%. Mplx's payout ratio is presently 113.08%.

Mplx Profile

MPLX LP is a diversified midstream energy company formed by Marathon Petroleum in 2012. It owns and operates infrastructure that gathers, processes, transports and stores energy products, connecting producers and refiners with customers and markets.

The company's assets include natural gas and natural gas liquids gathering and processing facilities, pipelines and fractionation plants, as well as crude oil and refined-product pipelines, storage terminals and inland marine transport operations.

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