Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) and Pao Novatek (OTCMKTS:NOVKY) Head to Head Analysis

Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) and Pao Novatek (OTCMKTS:NOVKY) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Mplx and Pao Novatek, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mplx	0	6	7	1	2.64
Pao Novatek	0	0	0	0	0.00

Mplx presently has a consensus target price of $62.20, indicating a potential upside of 4.78%. Given Mplx’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Mplx is more favorable than Pao Novatek.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

24.2% of Mplx shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.0% of Pao Novatek shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Mplx pays an annual dividend of $4.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.2%. Pao Novatek pays an annual dividend of $4.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.1%. Mplx pays out 92.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Pao Novatek pays out 1.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mplx has increased its dividend for 9 consecutive years. Pao Novatek is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mplx	$11.69 billion	5.15	$4.91 billion	$4.65	12.77
Pao Novatek	N/A	N/A	N/A	$386.40	0.10

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mplx	35.75%	32.71%	10.98%
Pao Novatek	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Mplx beats Pao Novatek on 11 of the 14 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 Pao Novatek

PAO NOVATEK, an independent oil and gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, production, processing, marketing, and export of natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons. The company principally holds interests in reserves located in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region, Western Siberia. It sells natural gas, stable gas condensate, gas condensate refined products, liquefied petroleum gas, crude oil, naphtha, diesel fuel, jet fuel, methanol, and petrol. The company also provides transportation, geological and geophysical research, repair and maintenance of energy equipment, and rent and other services; and operates retail stations. It sells its products in Russia, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, North America, and internationally. PAO NOVATEK has a strategic cooperation agreement with Japan Bank for International Cooperation to cooperate on projects to produce hydrogen and ammonia, carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies, as well as renewable energy projects in Russia. The company was formerly known as OAO NOVATEK and changed its name to PAO NOVATEK in October 2016. PAO NOVATEK was founded in 1994 and is based in Tarko-Sale, Russia.