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

Mplx Lp (NYSE:MPLX) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,010,000 shares, a growth of 19.5% from the January 15th total of 9,210,000 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,970,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MPLX shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Mplx from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Mplx from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Raymond James raised their target price on Mplx from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays upped their price target on Mplx from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Mplx from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.11.

Mplx Stock Up 0.3 %

Mplx stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $53.89. 1,749,230 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,927,670. Mplx has a one year low of $38.22 and a one year high of $54.52. The company has a market cap of $54.91 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $49.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.51. 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 (NYSE:MPLX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The pipeline company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Mplx will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Mplx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.9565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.10%. Mplx’s payout ratio is 90.97%.

Institutional Trading of Mplx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MPLX. ING Groep NV increased its holdings in shares of Mplx by 69.8% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 6,628,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $294,699,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,000 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Mplx by 141.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,985,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $95,011,000 after buying an additional 1,161,714 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mplx by 5,070.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 977,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,797,000 after buying an additional 958,881 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Mplx in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,917,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its position in Mplx by 221.9% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 643,995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,822,000 after acquiring an additional 443,910 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.25% of the company’s stock.

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.