Global Partners (NYSE:GLP) and NGL Energy Partners (NYSE:NGL) Head to Head Analysis

NGL Energy Partners (NYSE:NGL) and Global Partners (NYSE:GLP) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for NGL Energy Partners and Global Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NGL Energy Partners	0	0	0	0	0.00
Global Partners	0	1	0	0	2.00

Global Partners has a consensus price target of $56.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.91%. Given Global Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Global Partners is more favorable than NGL Energy Partners.

Volatility & Risk

NGL Energy Partners has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Partners has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

40.6% of NGL Energy Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.1% of Global Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 41.5% of Global Partners shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

NGL Energy Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.4%. Global Partners pays an annual dividend of $2.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. NGL Energy Partners pays out -67.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Global Partners pays out 94.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Global Partners has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. NGL Energy Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares NGL Energy Partners and Global Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NGL Energy Partners	0.75%	-47.87%	1.71%
Global Partners	0.76%	21.10%	3.57%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares NGL Energy Partners and Global Partners”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NGL Energy Partners	$3.47 billion	0.16	$39.37 million	($0.59)	-7.22
Global Partners	$17.16 billion	0.10	$94.98 million	$3.15	16.32

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

Summary

Global Partners beats NGL Energy Partners on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NGL Energy Partners

NGL Energy Partners LP engages in the transportation, storage, blending, and marketing of crude oil, natural gas liquids, refined products / renewables, and water solutions. The company operates in three segments: Water Solutions, Crude Oil Logistics, and Liquids Logistics. The Water Solutions segment transports, treats, recycles, and disposes produced and flowback water generated from oil and natural gas production; aggregates and sells recovered crude oil; disposes solids, such as tank bottoms, and drilling fluid and muds, as well as performs truck and frac tank washouts; and sells produced water for reuse and recycle, and brackish non-potable water. The Crude Oil Logistics segment purchases crude oil from producers and marketers, and transports it to refineries for resale at pipeline injection stations, storage terminals, barge loading facilities, rail facilities, refineries, and other trade hubs; and provides storage, terminaling, and transportation services through pipelines. The Liquids Logistics segment supplies natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products, and biodiesel to commercial, retail, and industrial customers in the United States and Canada through its 24 terminals, third-party storage and terminal facilities, and nine common carrier pipelines, as well as through fleet of leased railcars. This segment is also involved in the marine export of butane through its facility located in Chesapeake, Virginia. NGL Energy Holdings LLC serves as the general partner of the company. The company was founded in 1940 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

About Global Partners

Global Partners LP engages in the purchasing, selling, gathering, blending, storing, and logistics of transporting gasoline and gasoline blendstocks, distillates, residual oil, renewable fuels, crude oil, and propane to wholesalers, retailers, and commercial customers. The company operates through three segments: Wholesale, Gasoline Distribution and Station Operations, and Commercial. The Wholesale segment sells home heating oil, branded and unbranded gasoline and gasoline blendstocks, diesel, kerosene, and residual oil to home heating oil and propane retailers and wholesale distributors. This segment also transports the products by railcars, barges, trucks and/or pipelines. Its Gasoline Distribution and Station Operations segment sells branded and unbranded gasoline to gasoline station operators and sub-jobbers; operates gasoline stations and convenience stores; and provides car wash, lottery, and ATM services, as well as leases gasoline stations. The Commercial segment sells and delivers unbranded gasoline, home heating oil, diesel, kerosene, residual oil, and bunker fuel to customers in the public sector, as well as to commercial and industrial end-users; and sells custom blended fuels. The company is also involved in the transportation of petroleum products and renewable fuels through rail from the mid-continent region of the United States and Canada. Global Partners LP was founded in 2005 and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts.