Head to Head Review: MPLX (NYSE:MPLX) and Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B (NYSE:TGS)

MPLX (NYSE:MPLX) and Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B (NYSE:TGS) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares MPLX and Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MPLX	$11.93 billion	4.30	$4.32 billion	$4.33	11.62
Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B	$1.34 billion	2.89	$407.18 million	$2.51	10.26

MPLX has higher revenue and earnings than Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B. Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than MPLX, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

24.3% of MPLX shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.3% of Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

MPLX pays an annual dividend of $3.83 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.6%. Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B pays an annual dividend of $0.93 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. MPLX pays out 88.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B pays out 37.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for MPLX and Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MPLX	1	1	6	0	2.63
Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B	0	0	2	0	3.00

MPLX currently has a consensus target price of $55.63, suggesting a potential upside of 10.59%. Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B has a consensus target price of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 55.34%. Given Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B is more favorable than MPLX.

Risk and Volatility

MPLX has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares MPLX and Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MPLX	36.34%	32.08%	11.57%
Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B	31.29%	15.52%	10.23%

Summary

MPLX beats Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B

Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A. engages in transportation of natural gas, and production and commercialization of natural gas liquids in Argentina and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Natural Gas Transportation Services; Liquids Production and Commercialization; Midstream; and Telecommunications. The Natural Gas Transportation segment transports natural gas through pipeline system to distribution companies, power plants, and industrial customers. It provides operation and maintenance services for the natural gas transportation facilities. The Liquids Production and Commercialization segment produces and commercializes natural gas liquids, such as ethane, liquid petroleum gas, natural gasoline, propane, and butane. This segment offers certain related services comprising reception, storage, and dispatch of the liquids. The Midstream segment provides natural gas conditioning services; treatment, removal of impurities and natural gas compression, including the collection and transport of natural gas; and inspection and maintenance of pipelines and compressor plants services. In addition, this segment offers steam generation for electricity production and management services for expansion works and steam generation for the production of electricity. The Telecommunications segment offers data transmission services through a network of digital terrestrial radio relay. It serves residential, commercial, industrial, and electric power generation end users. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A. is a subsidiary of Compañía de Inversiones de Energía S.A.