Intrepid Capital Management Inc. Invests $239,000 in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Intrepid Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in Mplx by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 38,506 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 10,705 shares during the period. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Mplx by 479.6% during the 4th quarter. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC now owns 153,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,351,000 after purchasing an additional 127,100 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in Mplx by 387.5% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 23,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 18,714 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 9,134.1% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 11,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 11,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Mplx by 5.3% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,276,828 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $56,768,000 after buying an additional 64,714 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mplx Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Mplx stock opened at $53.60 on Wednesday. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $39.56 and a 52-week high of $54.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $53.13 and a 200 day moving average of $49.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $54.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.9565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.14%. Mplx’s payout ratio is currently 90.74%.

Insider Transactions at Mplx

In related news, VP Shawn M. Lyon bought 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $52.75 per share, with a total value of $211,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,334,522.25. This represents a 18.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on MPLX shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their target price on Mplx from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Mplx Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Logistics and Storage (L&S) and Gathering and Processing (G&P) segments. The Logistics and Storage segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.