Critical Contrast: Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) & SunocoCorp (NYSE:SUNC)

SunocoCorp (NYSE:SUNC) and Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SunocoCorp and Mplx”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SunocoCorp	$25.20 billion	0.15	-$5.00 million	$2.89	25.66
Mplx	$13.00 billion	4.57	$4.91 billion	$4.65	12.60

Mplx has lower revenue, but higher earnings than SunocoCorp. Mplx is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SunocoCorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

24.2% of Mplx shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares SunocoCorp and Mplx’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SunocoCorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mplx	35.75%	32.83%	10.98%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for SunocoCorp and Mplx, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SunocoCorp	1	1	3	1	2.67
Mplx	0	7	6	1	2.57

SunocoCorp presently has a consensus price target of $81.75, indicating a potential upside of 10.25%. Mplx has a consensus price target of $63.80, indicating a potential upside of 8.87%. Given SunocoCorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe SunocoCorp is more favorable than Mplx.

Dividends

SunocoCorp pays an annual dividend of $4.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Mplx pays an annual dividend of $4.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.4%. SunocoCorp pays out 138.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Mplx pays out 92.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Mplx has raised its dividend for 9 consecutive years. Mplx is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Mplx beats SunocoCorp on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SunocoCorp

Sunoco LP is an energy infrastructure and fuel distribution master limited partnership. Sunoco LP is based in DALLAS.

About Mplx

MPLX LP engages in the operation of midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets, and distribution fuels services. It operates through the Crude Oil and Products Logistics and Natural Gas and NGL Services segments. The Crude Oil and Products Logistics segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil, asphalt, refined petroleum products, and water. The Natural Gas and NGL Services segment gathers, processes, and transports natural gas, and gathers, transports, fractionates, stores, and markets natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company was founded on March 27, 2012 and is headquartered in Findlay, OH.