Head to Head Comparison: Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP) & Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD)

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD – Get Free Report) and Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP – Get Free Report) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

26.1% of Enterprise Products Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.9% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 32.6% of Enterprise Products Partners shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.0% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Enterprise Products Partners pays an annual dividend of $2.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. Martin Midstream Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Enterprise Products Partners pays out 77.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Martin Midstream Partners pays out -7.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Enterprise Products Partners has increased its dividend for 28 consecutive years. Enterprise Products Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Enterprise Products Partners and Martin Midstream Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Enterprise Products Partners currently has a consensus target price of $40.12, suggesting a potential upside of 8.47%. Martin Midstream Partners has a consensus target price of $3.00, suggesting a potential upside of 51.90%. Given Martin Midstream Partners’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Martin Midstream Partners is more favorable than Enterprise Products Partners.

Risk & Volatility

Enterprise Products Partners has a beta of 0.5, indicating that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Martin Midstream Partners has a beta of 0.51, indicating that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Enterprise Products Partners and Martin Midstream Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Enterprise Products Partners and Martin Midstream Partners”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

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

Summary

Enterprise Products Partners beats Martin Midstream Partners on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Enterprise Products Partners

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Enterprise Products Partners L.P. provides midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, petrochemicals, and refined products. It operates in four segments: NGL Pipelines & Services, Crude Oil Pipelines & Services, Natural Gas Pipelines & Services, and Petrochemical & Refined Products Services. The NGL Pipelines & Services segment offers natural gas processing and related NGL marketing services. It operates natural gas processing facilities located in Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming; NGL pipelines; NGL fractionation facilities; NGL and related product storage facilities; and NGL marine terminals. The Crude Oil Pipelines & Services segment operates crude oil pipelines; and crude oil storage and marine terminals, which include a fleet of approximately 250 tractor-trailer tank trucks that are used to transport crude oil. It also engages in crude oil marketing activities. The Natural Gas Pipelines & Services segment operates natural gas pipeline systems to gather, treat, and transport natural gas. It leases underground salt dome natural gas storage facilities in Napoleonville, Louisiana; owns an underground salt dome storage cavern in Wharton County, Texas; and markets natural gas. The Petrochemical & Refined Products Services segment operates propylene fractionation facilities, including propylene fractionation units and propane dehydrogenation facilities, and related marketing activities; butane isomerization complex and related deisobutanizer operations; and octane enhancement, isobutane dehydrogenation, and high purity isobutylene production facilities. It also operates refined products pipelines and terminals; and ethylene export terminals; and provides refined products marketing and marine transportation services. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Martin Midstream Partners

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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.