Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,998,243 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 24,091 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 0.20% of Mplx worth $85,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mcdonald Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 17,180 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mplx by 10.4% during the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Belfer Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mplx by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Belfer Management LLC now owns 7,733 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mplx by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 6,509 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, Linscomb & Williams Inc. grew its position in shares of Mplx by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Linscomb & Williams Inc. now owns 15,948 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

NYSE:MPLX opened at $44.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.57 and a 200-day moving average of $41.67. Mplx Lp has a twelve month low of $34.52 and a twelve month high of $44.59. The firm has a market cap of $44.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.37.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.17. Mplx had a return on equity of 32.68% and a net margin of 35.95%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Mplx’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Mplx Lp will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Mplx’s payout ratio is 87.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MPLX. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Mplx from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock 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 note on Sunday, August 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Mplx in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $46.56.

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.