On March 6, 2023 at 11:28:02 ET an unusually large $495.00K block of Call contracts in MPLX (MPLX) was sold, with a strike price of $36.00 / share, expiring in 193 days (on September 15, 2023). Fintel tracks all large options trades, and the premium spent on this trade was 1.66 sigmas above the mean, placing it in the 100.00 percentile of all recent large trades made in MPLX options.

This trade was first picked up on Fintel’s real time Options Flow tool, where all large block option trades are tracked.

Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 13.32% Upside

As of March 5, 2023, the average one-year price target for MPLX is $39.56. The forecasts range from a low of $34.34 to a high of $46.20. The average price target represents an increase of 13.32% from its latest reported closing price of $34.91.

The projected annual revenue for MPLX is $10,888MM, an increase of 2.45%. The projected annual non-GAAP EPS is $3.59.

What is the Fund Sentiment?

There are 471 funds or institutions reporting positions in MPLX. This is an increase of 14 owner(s) or 3.06% in the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to MPLX is 1.11%, a decrease of 5.79%. Total shares owned by institutions decreased in the last three months by 3.73% to 300,957K shares. The put/call ratio of MPLX is 0.40, indicating a bullish outlook.

What are large shareholders doing?

Blackstone Group holds 50,517K shares representing 5.05% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 54,954K shares, representing a decrease of 8.78%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in MPLX by 3.27% over the last quarter.

AMLP – ALERIAN MLP ETF holds 21,023K shares representing 2.10% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 20,093K shares, representing an increase of 4.42%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in MPLX by 8.08% over the last quarter.

Invesco holds 20,912K shares representing 2.09% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 20,512K shares, representing an increase of 1.92%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in MPLX by 99.99% over the last quarter.

Alps Advisors holds 20,674K shares representing 2.07% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 20,280K shares, representing an increase of 1.91%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in MPLX by 4.24% over the last quarter.

Goldman Sachs Group holds 13,168K shares representing 1.32% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 12,751K shares, representing an increase of 3.17%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in MPLX by 9.41% over the last quarter.

MPLX Declares $0.78 Dividend

On January 11, 2023 the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share ($3.10 annualized). Shareholders of record as of February 6, 2023 received the payment on February 14, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.70 per share.

At the current share price of $34.91 / share, the stock’s dividend yield is 8.88%. Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 10.18%, the lowest has been 6.70%, and the highest has been 27.34%. The standard deviation of yields is 3.32 (n=237).

The current dividend yield is 0.39 standard deviations below the historical average.

Additionally, the company’s dividend payout ratio is 0.79. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company’s income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company’s income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend – not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company’s 3-Year dividend growth rate is 0.13%, demonstrating that it has increased its dividend over time.

MPLX Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

MPLX is a diversified, large-cap master limited partnership that owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and provides fuels distribution services. MPLX’s assets include a network of crude oil and refined product pipelines; an inland marine business; light-product terminals; storage caverns; refinery tanks, docks, loading racks, and associated piping; and crude and light-product marine terminals. The company also owns crude oil and natural gas gathering systems and pipelines as well as natural gas and NGL processing and fractionation facilities in key U.S. supply basins.

This article originally appeared on Fintel

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