Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Short Interest Update

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,670,000 shares, a decline of 12.2% from the January 31st total of 11,010,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,820,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Mplx by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx during the third quarter valued at $51,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Mplx by 139.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Trading Down 0.3 %

MPLX stock traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $52.18. 1,022,689 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,835,775. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. Mplx has a 52-week low of $39.56 and a 52-week high of $54.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.55 and a 200-day moving average of $47.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. Mplx’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx’s payout ratio is currently 90.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MPLX shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.11.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Logistics and Storage (L&S) and Gathering and Processing (G&P) segments. The Logistics and Storage segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.