Head-To-Head Analysis: NACCO Industries (NYSE:NC) versus Mplx (NYSE:MPLX)

NACCO Industries (NYSE:NC) and Mplx (NYSE:MPLX) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Dividends

NACCO Industries pays an annual dividend of $1.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Mplx pays an annual dividend of $4.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.4%. NACCO Industries pays out 45.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mplx pays out 92.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. NACCO Industries has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares NACCO Industries and Mplx”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NACCO Industries	$278.48 million	0.88	$17.57 million	$2.30	14.12
Mplx	$13.00 billion	4.55	$4.91 billion	$4.65	12.54

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

Profitability

This table compares NACCO Industries and Mplx’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NACCO Industries	6.21%	4.00%	2.60%
Mplx	35.75%	32.83%	10.98%

Risk and Volatility

NACCO Industries has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mplx has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

49.1% of NACCO Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.2% of Mplx shares are owned by institutional investors. 44.8% of NACCO Industries shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for NACCO Industries and Mplx, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NACCO Industries	1	0	0	0	1.00
Mplx	0	7	6	1	2.57

Mplx has a consensus price target of $63.80, suggesting a potential upside of 9.39%. Given Mplx’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Mplx is more favorable than NACCO Industries.

Summary

Mplx beats NACCO Industries on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NACCO Industries

NACCO Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the natural resources business. The company operates through three segments: Coal Mining, North American Mining, and Minerals Management. The Coal Mining segment operates surface coal mines under long-term contracts with power generation companies. Coal is surface mined in North Dakota and Mississippi. The North American Mining segment provides value-added contract mining and other services for producers of aggregates, activated carbon, lithium, and other industrial minerals; and contract mining services for independently owned mines and quarries in Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Virginia, and Nebraska. This segment also offers mining design and consulting services. The Minerals Management segment is involved in the leasing of its royalty and mineral interests to third-party exploration and production companies, and other mining companies, which grants them the rights to explore, develop, mine, produce, market, and sell gas, oil, and coal. NACCO Industries, Inc. was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

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.