Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,010,000 shares, an increase of 19.5% from the January 15th total of 9,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,970,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPLX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Mplx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mplx from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mplx has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.11.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Mplx in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mplx in the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Mplx by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,135 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in Mplx during the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Mplx by 139.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,785 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. 24.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mplx Price Performance

Shares of MPLX stock traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $53.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,131,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,833,450. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Mplx has a twelve month low of $38.44 and a twelve month high of $54.74. The stock has a market cap of $54.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.24 and a 200-day moving average of $46.67.

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Mplx had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 36.18%. Mplx's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mplx will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.11%. Mplx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.97%.

About Mplx

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.