Martin Midstream Partners L.P. (NASDAQ:MMLP) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Martin Midstream Partners L.P. (NASDAQ:MMLP) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 105,000 shares, a drop of 27.9% from the March 31st total of 145,700 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 92,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Martin Midstream Partners in a research note on Friday, April 25th. They set a “buy” rating for the company.

Institutional Trading of Martin Midstream Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Martin Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter valued at $124,000. US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in Martin Midstream Partners in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Martin Midstream Partners by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 713,930 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,563,000 after buying an additional 140,196 shares during the last quarter. Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P purchased a new position in Martin Midstream Partners in the 4th quarter worth about $824,000. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Midstream Partners during the 4th quarter valued at about $111,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 34.90% of the company’s stock.

Martin Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of MMLP stock opened at $2.85 on Wednesday. Martin Midstream Partners has a 1-year low of $2.55 and a 1-year high of $4.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3.32 and a 200 day moving average of $3.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.31 million, a PE ratio of -21.92 and a beta of 1.75.

Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $192.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.13 million. Martin Midstream Partners had a negative net margin of 0.73% and a negative return on equity of 6.93%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.08 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Martin Midstream Partners will post 0.15 EPS for the current year.

Martin Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a $0.005 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. Martin Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is -8.33%.

About Martin Midstream Partners

Martin Midstream Partners L.P., together with its subsidiaries, provides terminalling, processing, storage, and packaging services for petroleum products and by-products primarily in the United States. The company operates in four segments: Terminalling and Storage, Transportation, Sulfur Services, and Specialty Products.