Critical Review: Koninklijke Vopak (OTC:VOPKF) & Mplx (NYSE:MPLX)

Koninklijke Vopak (OTC:VOPKF) and Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) are both energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings and valuation.

Dividends

Koninklijke Vopak pays an annual dividend of $0.77 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Mplx pays an annual dividend of $3.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.0%. Koninklijke Vopak pays out 34.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mplx pays out 87.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

23.0% of Koninklijke Vopak shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.3% of Mplx shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Koninklijke Vopak and Mplx’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Koninklijke Vopak	N/A	N/A	N/A	$2.21	20.26
Mplx	$10.68 billion	4.05	$3.93 billion	$3.88	10.98

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Koninklijke Vopak and Mplx, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Koninklijke Vopak	0	0	0	0	N/A
Mplx	0	0	9	0	3.00

Mplx has a consensus price target of $46.22, indicating a potential upside of 8.53%. Given Mplx’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Mplx is more favorable than Koninklijke Vopak.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Koninklijke Vopak	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mplx	34.96%	31.70%	11.01%

Summary

Mplx beats Koninklijke Vopak on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Koninklijke Vopak

Koninklijke Vopak N.V., an independent tank storage company, stores and handles liquid chemicals, gases, and oil products to the energy and manufacturing markets worldwide. The company operates LPG and chemical gas, industrial, chemical, and oil terminals; and owns and operates specialized facilities consisting of tanks, jetties, truck loading stations, and pipelines. It stores and handles chemicals, such as methanol, xylenes, styrene, alpha olefins, and mono-ethylene glycol; gas, including LNG, LPG, ethylene, butadiene, and ammonia; oil products consisting of crude oil, fuel oil, diesel, jet fuel, gasoline, and naphtha; and vegoils and biofuels comprising ethanol, biodiesel, and sustainable aviation fuel. In addition, the company is involved in the development of infrastructure solutions within ports for low-carbon and renewable hydrogen, CO2, long-duration energy storage, and sustainable fuels and feedstocks. Further, it operates 76 terminals in 23 countries with a storage capacity of 35.2 million cubic meters. It serves producers, manufacturers, distributors, governments, traders, and chemical and energy companies. The company was founded in 1616 and is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

About Mplx

MPLX LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Logistics and Storage, and Gathering and Processing. The company is involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas; gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage, and marketing of natural gas liquids; gathering, storage, transportation, and distribution of crude oil and refined products, as well as other hydrocarbon-based products and renewables; and sale of residue gas and condensate. It also engages in the inland marine businesses comprising fleet of boats and barges transportation of light products, heavy oils, crude oil, renewable fuels, chemicals, and feedstocks in the Mid-Continent and Gulf Coast regions, as well as a marine repair facility located on the Ohio River; and distribution of fuel, as well as operates refining logistics, terminals, rail facilities, and storage caverns. In addition, the company operates terminal facilities for the receipt, storage, blending, additization, handling, and redelivery of refined petroleum products through the pipeline, rail, marine, and over-the-road modes of transportation. MPLX GP LLC acts as the general partner of MPLX LP. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Findlay, Ohio. MPLX LP operates as a subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum Corporation.