MPLX LP $MPLX Stock Position Lifted by Winebrenner Capital Management LLC

Winebrenner Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX) by 5.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,928 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Winebrenner Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MPLX were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in MPLX by 1.8% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,603 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in MPLX by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 25,081 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC raised its stake in MPLX by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 4,602 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in MPLX by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV raised its stake in MPLX by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 2,434 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MPLX Price Performance

NYSE MPLX opened at $50.75 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.65. MPLX LP has a 52-week low of $43.62 and a 52-week high of $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $51.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.68.

MPLX (NYSE:MPLX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. MPLX had a return on equity of 30.95% and a net margin of 35.44%.MPLX’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that MPLX LP will post 4.41 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 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.0765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.5%. This is an increase from MPLX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. MPLX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MPLX. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MPLX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of MPLX from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of MPLX from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of MPLX from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MPLX from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.50.

About MPLX

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Crude Oil and Products Logistics and Natural Gas and NGL Services segments. The Crude Oil and Products Logistics segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.