Cerity Partners LLC Takes Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the third quarter valued at $43,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mplx in the fourth quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mplx by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 2,349 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MPLX. Barclays upped their target price on Mplx from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Mplx from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James upped their target price on Mplx from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Mplx from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $43.86.

Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX opened at $41.95 on Friday. Mplx Lp has a twelve month low of $33.12 and a twelve month high of $42.89. The firm has a market cap of $42.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.60 and a 200-day moving average of $38.01.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The pipeline company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.15. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.85% and a net margin of 34.82%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.10%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.24%.

Mplx Company Profile

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.