Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 7,522,583 shares, a decrease of 26.1% from the December 15th total of 10,184,962 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,444,715 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,444,715 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mplx by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 24,049 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its holdings in Mplx by 38.3% in the second quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 7,951 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 10.9% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,832 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,167,000 after buying an additional 11,844 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Mplx by 21.1% in the second quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,849 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Mplx during the 2nd quarter worth about $776,894,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Up 1.1%

MPLX stock traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $56.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,002,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,346,533. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Mplx has a 52-week low of $44.60 and a 52-week high of $56.71.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.45. Mplx had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 37.61%.The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a dividend of $1.0765 per share. This is a boost 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MPLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Mplx from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Mplx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Mplx in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Mplx from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Mplx from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Mplx Company Profile

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.