Analyzing Anadarko Petroleum (NASDAQ:APC) & Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP)

Anadarko Petroleum (NASDAQ:APC) and Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Anadarko Petroleum	N/A	N/A	N/A
Martin Midstream Partners	-2.07%	N/A	-2.91%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

34.9% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Anadarko Petroleum shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.0% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Anadarko Petroleum pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Martin Midstream Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Anadarko Petroleum pays out 150.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Martin Midstream Partners pays out -5.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Anadarko Petroleum and Martin Midstream Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Anadarko Petroleum	2	1	3	1	2.43
Martin Midstream Partners	1	1	0	0	1.50

Anadarko Petroleum presently has a consensus target price of $21.80, suggesting a potential upside of 13.25%. Martin Midstream Partners has a consensus target price of $3.00, suggesting a potential upside of 25.00%. Given Martin Midstream Partners’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Martin Midstream Partners is more favorable than Anadarko Petroleum.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Anadarko Petroleum and Martin Midstream Partners”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Anadarko Petroleum	$5.58 billion	0.04	$32.73 million	$0.69	27.90
Martin Midstream Partners	$716.11 million	0.13	-$14.74 million	($0.38)	-6.32

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

Summary

Anadarko Petroleum beats Martin Midstream Partners on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Anadarko Petroleum

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of oil and gas properties. It operates through three segments: Exploration and Production, WES Midstream, and Other Midstream. The company explores for and produces oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). It is also involved in gathering, processing, treating, and transporting oil, natural-gas, and NGLs production, as well as the gathering and disposal of produced water. The company's oil and natural gas properties are located in the United States onshore and deepwater Gulf of Mexico; and Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Colombia, Peru, and other countries. As of December 31, 2018, it had approximately 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent of proved reserves. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.

About Martin Midstream Partners

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.