Royal Bank of Canada Sells 102,137 Shares of MPLX LP $MPLX

Key Points

• The Royal Bank of Canada has reduced its holdings in Mplx Lp by 11.6%, owning a total of 781,429 shares valued at approximately $41.82 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Mplx reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.03 for the last quarter, which fell short of analysts' expectations, with revenues of $2.79 billion compared to expectations of $3.13 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9565 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $3.83 and a dividend yield of 7.6%.

Royal Bank of Canada decreased its holdings in MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 11.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 781,429 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 102,137 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.08% of MPLX worth $41,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in shares of MPLX in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in MPLX during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MPLX in the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in MPLX in the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC grew its position in MPLX by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPLX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on MPLX from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MPLX from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Barclays raised their target price on MPLX from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded MPLX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.89.

MPLX Stock Performance

MPLX stock traded up $0.98 during trading on Thursday, reaching $50.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,574,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,251,944. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $50.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.18. MPLX LP has a 52 week low of $42.92 and a 52 week high of $54.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.74.

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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. MPLX had a return on equity of 30.95% and a net margin of 35.44%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MPLX LP will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MPLX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. MPLX's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.