Spirit of America Management Corp NY Reduces Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Spirit of America Management Corp NY decreased its position in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 166,897 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Mplx accounts for 1.5% of Spirit of America Management Corp NY’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Spirit of America Management Corp NY’s holdings in Mplx were worth $7,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MPLX. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 14,825,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $631,435,000 after acquiring an additional 353,324 shares during the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,580,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $248,089,000 after acquiring an additional 34,659 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 5,224,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $217,148,000 after acquiring an additional 255,211 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,200,759 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $216,144,000 after acquiring an additional 201,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 2,571,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $109,534,000 after acquiring an additional 186,084 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Price Performance

Mplx stock opened at $43.93 on Friday. Mplx Lp has a 52-week low of $35.06 and a 52-week high of $45.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.22. 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 has a market cap of $44.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.17. Mplx had a net margin of 35.95% and a return on equity of 32.68%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Mplx Lp will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

About Mplx

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.