Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Raises Position in Mplx Lp $MPLX

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 349,518 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,143 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Mplx were worth $17,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mplx by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,611,824 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $280,311,000 after acquiring an additional 120,216 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Mplx in the second quarter worth about $335,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Mplx during the 2nd quarter valued at about $330,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new stake in Mplx in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $990,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mplx by 4.2% during the second quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 364,486 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $18,775,000 after purchasing an additional 14,524 shares in the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX stock opened at $56.57 on Friday. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $44.60 and a 52-week high of $56.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.45. Mplx had a net margin of 37.61% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a $1.0765 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. This represents a $4.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.6%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPLX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Mplx in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Zacks Research raised Mplx from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Raymond James Financial cut Mplx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Mplx from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.00.

About Mplx

MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX) is a midstream master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops energy infrastructure primarily across the United States. The company provides a range of midstream services including the gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). MPLX also operates processing and fractionation facilities and supplies logistics services that connect producers, refiners and end-use markets.

The partnership’s asset base includes pipelines, storage terminals, rail and marine facilities, natural gas processing plants and NGL fractionators.