Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 5,150 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mcdonald Partners LLC increased its holdings in Mplx by 1.4% in the second quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 17,180 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,204 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Mplx by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Mplx by 3.9% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,032 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addis & Hill Inc boosted its holdings in Mplx by 2.7% in the third quarter. Addis & Hill Inc now owns 13,462 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

Mplx Stock Performance

MPLX opened at $46.00 on Wednesday. Mplx Lp has a 1-year low of $35.10 and a 1-year high of $47.62. The company has a market capitalization of $46.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.04). Mplx had a net margin of 36.77% and a return on equity of 32.70%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Mplx’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Mplx Lp will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change from Mplx’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.32%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MPLX shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut Mplx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Mplx from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Mplx from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

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.