Mplx Lp $MPLX Stock Position Lessened by Eagle Global Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Eagle Global Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Mplx by 2.7% in Q4, selling 52,470 shares and now holds 1,884,585 shares worth $100.58 million, making MPLX its 4th largest holding (≈3.7% of the firm's portfolio).
• MPLX beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $1.17 vs. $1.10 consensus and revenue of $5.99 billion, reporting a net margin of 37.8% and return on equity of 34.4%.
• The company pays a sizable dividend—quarterly $1.0765 (annualized $4.31) for a 7.8% yield and 89.2% payout ratio—and has a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $62.00.

Eagle Global Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,884,585 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 52,470 shares during the period. Mplx accounts for approximately 3.7% of Eagle Global Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Eagle Global Advisors LLC owned 0.19% of Mplx worth $100,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx during the third quarter worth $2,698,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 53.2% during the third quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 103,351 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,162,000 after acquiring an additional 35,869 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new position in Mplx in the 3rd quarter valued at $990,000. Texas Yale Capital Corp. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 24,405 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Mplx by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 26,409,654 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,319,162,000 after purchasing an additional 325,451 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Mplx Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $55.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $57.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $47.80 and a one year high of $59.98. The company has a market cap of $56.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.56.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The pipeline company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.07. Mplx had a net margin of 37.79% and a return on equity of 34.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Mplx Lp will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $1.0765 per share. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Mplx's payout ratio is currently 89.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mplx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Mplx from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.00.

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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