VELA Investment Management LLC Buys 7,581 Shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

VELA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 38.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,349 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,581 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mplx were worth $1,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 73.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 450.0% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx during the 2nd quarter valued at $67,000. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on MPLX shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mplx from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mplx in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mplx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.67.

Mplx Stock Performance

Mplx stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $44.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,292,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,814,060. The firm has a market cap of $45.12 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Mplx Lp has a one year low of $35.06 and a one year high of $45.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.83 and a 200 day moving average of $42.37.

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

Mplx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued 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 8.65%. Mplx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.