Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC Has $12.48 Million Position in Mplx Lp $MPLX

Key Points

• Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC has increased its holdings in Mplx LP by 14.8%, acquiring an additional 31,300 shares, which now represent 7.3% of its investment portfolio.
• Mplx recently reported earnings of $1.03 per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08, with quarterly revenue decreasing by 1.6% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9565 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 7.5% and a payout ratio of 90.97%.

Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC raised its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Free Report) by 14.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 242,300 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,300 shares during the quarter. Mplx makes up 7.3% of Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC's holdings in Mplx were worth $12,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its stake in Mplx by 38.2% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 7,788,063 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $416,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153,490 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Mplx by 14.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,045,968 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $270,060,000 after acquiring an additional 654,489 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its position in Mplx by 54.8% during the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 996,777 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $53,348,000 after acquiring an additional 352,782 shares during the period. Fractal Investments LLC grew its position in Mplx by 18.1% during the first quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 2,256,503 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $120,768,000 after acquiring an additional 345,654 shares during the period. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT grew its position in Mplx by 21.0% during the first quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,822,709 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $97,551,000 after acquiring an additional 315,747 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MPLX. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mplx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Mplx from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Mplx from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.89.

Mplx Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 373,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,577,092. 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 Lp has a fifty-two week low of $43.53 and a fifty-two week high of $54.87. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $50.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.11. The company has a market capitalization of $51.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.74.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.05). Mplx had a return on equity of 30.95% and a net margin of 35.44%.The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The company's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

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

Mplx Company Profile

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.