Critical Comparison: Stabilis Solutions (NASDAQ:SLNG) versus Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC)

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) and Stabilis Solutions (NASDAQ:SLNG) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

Marathon Petroleum has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stabilis Solutions has a beta of -0.24, suggesting that its stock price is 124% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Marathon Petroleum and Stabilis Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marathon Petroleum	0	5	11	1	2.76
Stabilis Solutions	1	1	0	0	1.50

Marathon Petroleum presently has a consensus price target of $379.94, indicating a potential downside of 18.04%. Given Marathon Petroleum’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Marathon Petroleum is more favorable than Stabilis Solutions.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Marathon Petroleum and Stabilis Solutions”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marathon Petroleum	$135.22 billion	1.00	$4.05 billion	$29.09	15.94
Stabilis Solutions	$68.25 million	1.42	-$1.35 million	($0.42)	-12.38

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

Profitability

This table compares Marathon Petroleum and Stabilis Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marathon Petroleum	5.48%	31.96%	8.88%
Stabilis Solutions	-14.06%	-12.33%	-8.17%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

76.8% of Marathon Petroleum shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.8% of Stabilis Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Marathon Petroleum shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 72.2% of Stabilis Solutions shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Marathon Petroleum beats Stabilis Solutions on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Refining & Marketing, and Midstream segments. The Refining & Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions of the United States; and purchases refined products and ethanol for resale and distributes refined products, including renewable diesel, through transportation, storage, distribution, and marketing services. Its refined products include transportation fuels, such as reformulated gasolines and blend-grade gasolines; heavy fuel oil; and asphalt. This segment also manufactures propane and petrochemicals. It sells refined products to wholesale marketing customers in the United States and internationally, buyers on the spot market, and independent entrepreneurs who operate primarily Marathon branded outlets, as well as through long-term fuel supply contracts to direct dealer locations primarily under the ARCO brand. The Midstream segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil and refined products through refining logistics assets, pipelines, terminals, towboats, and barges; gathers, processes, and transports natural gas; and gathers, transports, fractionates, stores, and markets natural gas liquids. Marathon Petroleum Corporation was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Findlay, Ohio.

About Stabilis Solutions

Stabilis Solutions, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, an energy transition company, provides clean energy production, storage, transportation, and fueling solutions primarily using liquefied natural gas (LNG) to various end markets in North America. The company offers LNG solutions to customers in aerospace, agriculture, energy, industrial, marine bunkering, mining, pipeline, remote power, and utility markets. It also provides engineering and field support services, as well as rents cryogenic equipment. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Stabilis Solutions, Inc. is a subsidiary of LNG Investment Company LLC.