Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 56,045 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,907 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Mplx were worth $2,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PSI Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mplx by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mplx during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC acquired a new position in Mplx during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MPLX opened at $41.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.72. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $33.12 and a one year high of $42.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.28. The company has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 1.35.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.01). Mplx had a net margin of 34.96% and a return on equity of 31.70%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.14%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 87.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MPLX. Barclays raised their price target on Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Mplx from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.11.

About Mplx

MPLX LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Logistics and Storage, and Gathering and Processing. The company is involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas; gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; gathering, storage, transportation, and distribution of crude oil and refined products, as well as other hydrocarbon-based products and renewables; and sale of residue gas and condensate.