Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Buys 1,330 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,403 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,330 shares during the quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $3,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mplx by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 280,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $12,488,000 after buying an additional 19,320 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 10.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 57,809 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,535,000 after acquiring an additional 5,569 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 3.1% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 44,894 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338 shares during the period. Private Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx in the 3rd quarter worth $511,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in Mplx by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,735 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Stock Up 2.3 %

MPLX stock opened at $45.34 on Wednesday. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $35.07 and a 1-year high of $45.87. The stock has a market cap of $46.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Mplx had a net margin of 35.95% and a return on equity of 32.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. This is an increase from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MPLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.67.

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.