Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Has $12.49 Million Position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 280,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,320 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $12,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MPLX. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Mplx by 47.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 51,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after acquiring an additional 16,637 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Mplx by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 81,884 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,487,000 after acquiring an additional 14,782 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Mplx during the 1st quarter valued at $799,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mplx by 40.5% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS bought a new position in Mplx during the 2nd quarter valued at $308,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Mplx in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.67.

Mplx Price Performance

NYSE MPLX opened at $44.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $45.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. Mplx Lp has a 52 week low of $35.07 and a 52 week high of $45.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.43.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced 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. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.68% and a net margin of 35.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.63%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.52%.

Mplx 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.