Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP) vs. Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Critical Contrast

Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP) and Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Martin Midstream Partners and Plains GP”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Martin Midstream Partners	$716.11 million	0.12	-$14.74 million	($0.38)	-5.72
Plains GP	$52.30 billion	0.10	$103.00 million	$2.79	9.53

Plains GP has higher revenue and earnings than Martin Midstream Partners. Martin Midstream Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Plains GP, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Martin Midstream Partners and Plains GP’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Martin Midstream Partners	-2.07%	N/A	-2.91%
Plains GP	0.21%	0.70%	0.36%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Martin Midstream Partners and Plains GP, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Martin Midstream Partners	1	1	0	0	1.50
Plains GP	2	6	4	1	2.31

Martin Midstream Partners currently has a consensus target price of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 37.99%. Plains GP has a consensus target price of $24.91, indicating a potential downside of 6.36%. Given Martin Midstream Partners’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Martin Midstream Partners is more favorable than Plains GP.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

34.9% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.3% of Plains GP shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.0% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.9% of Plains GP shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Martin Midstream Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Plains GP pays an annual dividend of $1.67 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Martin Midstream Partners pays out -5.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Plains GP pays out 59.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Risk and Volatility

Martin Midstream Partners has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Plains GP has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Plains GP beats Martin Midstream Partners on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Martin Midstream Partners

Martin Midstream Partners L.P., together with its subsidiaries, provides terminalling, processing, storage, and packaging services for petroleum products and by-products primarily in the United States. The company operates in four segments: Terminalling and Storage, Transportation, Sulfur Services, and Specialty Products. The company's Terminalling and Storage segment owns or operates various marine shore-based terminal facilities and specialty terminal facilities that provide storage, refining, blending, packaging, and handling services for producers and suppliers of petroleum products and by-products. This segment also offers land rental services to oil and gas companies, as well as storage and handling services for lubricants and fuels. Its Transportation segment operates various trucks and tank trailers; and inland marine tank barges, inland push boats, and articulated offshore tug and barge unit to transport petroleum products and by-products, petrochemicals, and chemicals. The company's Sulfur Services segment processes molten sulfur into prilled or pelletized sulfur, which is used in the production of fertilizers and industrial chemicals. Its Specialty Products segment stores, distributes, and transports natural gas liquids for wholesale deliveries to refineries, industrial natural gas liquid users, and propane retailers. Martin Midstream GP LLC serves as a general partner of the company. Martin Midstream Partners L.P. was incorporated in 2002 and is based in Kilgore, Texas.

About Plains GP

Plains GP Holdings, L.P., through its subsidiary, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., owns and operates midstream infrastructure systems in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Crude Oil and Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs). The company engages in the gathering and transporting crude oil and NGLs using pipelines, gathering systems, and trucks. It engages in the loading and unloading services at terminals; NGL fractionation and isomerization services; and natural gas and condensate processing services. The company offers logistics services to producers, refiners, and other customers. PAA GP Holdings LLC operates as a general partner of the company. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.