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

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,403 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,330 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $3,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Mplx by 47.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 51,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after purchasing an additional 16,637 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Mplx by 22.0% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 81,884 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,487,000 after buying an additional 14,782 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Mplx in the first quarter worth about $799,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 40.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 361,257 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,386,000 after acquiring an additional 104,218 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mplx by 7.4% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 280,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,488,000 after acquiring an additional 19,320 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MPLX. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Mplx in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.67.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE:MPLX 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.92 and a 200 day moving average of $42.46. The company has a market capitalization of $46.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Mplx Increases Dividend

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

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.