Oxbow Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Mplx Lp $MPLX

Oxbow Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 405,174 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,754 shares during the quarter. Mplx accounts for about 1.9% of Oxbow Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Oxbow Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $21,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Solstein Capital LLC bought a new stake in Mplx during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MPLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Mplx from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Mplx from $59.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.70.

Mplx Trading Down 4.0%

Mplx stock opened at $54.02 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Mplx Lp has a 12 month low of $47.80 and a 12 month high of $59.98. The stock has a market cap of $54.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 0.49.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 36.38%.Mplx’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $1.0765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.0%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.07%.

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.