Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Short Interest Update

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,670,000 shares, a decline of 12.2% from the January 31st total of 11,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,820,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company's shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mplx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MPLX. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Mplx during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Mplx during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Mplx by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Mplx in the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Mplx by 139.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.11.

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Mplx Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPLX traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $52.33. 1,747,189 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,866,472. Mplx has a 52 week low of $39.56 and a 52 week high of $54.79. The firm has a market cap of $53.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40. The company's 50 day moving average price is $51.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.74. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.03. Mplx had a net margin of 36.18% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Mplx will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.9565 dividend. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Mplx's payout ratio is currently 90.74%.

Mplx Company Profile

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Logistics and Storage (L&S) and Gathering and Processing (G&P) segments. The Logistics and Storage segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water.