Comparing Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP) and Dorian LPG (NYSE:LPG)

Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP) and Dorian LPG (NYSE:LPG) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk, earnings and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Martin Midstream Partners and Dorian LPG’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Martin Midstream Partners	-2.19%	N/A	-2.76%
Dorian LPG	15.15%	5.24%	3.08%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

34.9% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.5% of Dorian LPG shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.0% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.6% of Dorian LPG shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Martin Midstream Partners	$707.62 million	0.19	-$5.21 million	($0.39)	-8.82
Dorian LPG	$353.34 million	3.69	$90.17 million	$1.15	26.56

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

Risk and Volatility

Martin Midstream Partners has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dorian LPG has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Martin Midstream Partners and Dorian LPG, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Martin Midstream Partners	0	0	0	0	0.00
Dorian LPG	0	0	2	0	3.00

Dorian LPG has a consensus target price of $35.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.59%. Given Dorian LPG’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Dorian LPG is more favorable than Martin Midstream Partners.

Summary

Dorian LPG beats Martin Midstream Partners on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Dorian LPG

Dorian LPG Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas through its LPG tankers worldwide. It owns and operates twenty-five very large gas carriers. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.