ET vs MPLX vs SO Stock Comparison

Energy Transfer, Mplx and Southern Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ET Energy Transfer LP
$20.61 +2.0% 1M +23.2% 1Y
Market cap
$70.97B
P/E
14.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$107.38B
Div. yield
6.54%
Oil and Gas Pipelines Energy
5 wins
MPLX Mplx Lp
$58.65 +3.3% 1M +16.3% 1Y
Market cap
$59.46B
P/E
12.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$13.22B
Div. yield
7.36%
Oil and Gas Pipelines Energy
6 wins
SO Southern Co
$92.56 +11.7% 1M -3.5% 1Y
Market cap
$106.48B
P/E
22.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$30.18B
Div. yield
3.24%
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
1 win

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Mplx leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Mplx 6, Energy Transfer 5, Southern 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionETMPLXSOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $70.97B $59.46B $106.48B SO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 14.1x 12.6x 22.6x MPLX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 11.5x 14.3x 19.1x ET
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +33.3% +8.7% +6.4% ET
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 4.7% 35.8% 15.4% MPLX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.4% 14.6% 5.1% MPLX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 4.0x 3.4x 5.3x MPLX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 6.54% 7.36% 3.24% MPLX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +23.2% +16.3% -3.5% ET
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +16.2%/yr +13.7%/yr +8.1%/yr ET
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 17.5% 17.1% 17.9% MPLX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 60/100 43/100 ET

Percentile Scorecard

ETMPLXSO

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisETMPLXSO
Valuation 100 #1 of 12 36 #8 of 12 36 #24 of 37
Growth 70 #4 of 11 50 #6 of 11 50 #18 of 35
Profitability 40 #7 of 11 90 #2 of 11 65 #13 of 35
Financial Health 55 #6 of 12 36 #8 of 12 49 #19 of 36
Shareholder Returns – 86 #2 of 8 14 #32 of 37
Overall 66 60 43
  • ET ranked among 12 companies in Oil and Gas Midstream
  • MPLX ranked among 12 companies in Oil and Gas Midstream
  • SO ranked among 37 companies in Regulated Utilities

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodETMPLXSOSPY
1 month +2.0%+3.3%+11.7% -0.8%
3 months +3.5%+0.5%-4.1% +3.5%
6 months +8.2%+7.4%-1.3% +7.0%
Year to date +25.0%+9.9%+6.1% +12.2%
1 year +23.2%+16.3%-3.5% +13.0%
3 years +57.2%+64.3%+39.1% +86.3%
3 years, per year +16.3%+18.0%+11.6% +23.1%
5 years +111.8%+89.9%+47.8% +68.6%
5 years, per year +16.2%+13.7%+8.1% +11.0%
10 years +30.9%+83.7%+81.6% +258.0%
10 years, per year +2.7%+6.3%+6.1% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureETMPLXSOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 17.5%17.1%17.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 16.6%17.9%17.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.21-0.04-0.23 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.330.95-0.19 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -25.8%-20.1%-23.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.2%-2.9%-6.6% -1.8%
52-week high $21.74$60.43$99.11 $779.14
52-week low $16.21$50.29$82.35 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleETMPLXSO
P/E now vs peer median 14.1xmedian 17.3x 12.6xmedian 17.3x 22.6xmedian 21.0x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 3.5x 4.5xmedian 3.5x 3.5xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 8.2xmedian 10.9x 11.5xmedian 10.9x 13.1xmedian 12.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.6xmedian 13.6x 17.8xmedian 13.6x -32.6xmedian 31.2x
P/B now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 2.1x 4.2xmedian 2.1x 2.5xmedian 1.9x
PEG now vs peer median 2.01median 1.88 2.42median 1.88 0.71median 2.27

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsETMPLXSO
Revenue $107.38B $13.22B $30.18B
Gross profit $25.32B $11.61B $25.14B
Operating income $10.78B $5.88B $7.31B
Net income $7.04B $4.77B $4.66B
Free cash flow $5.22B $3.34B -$3.27B
EPS (diluted) $1.46 $4.66 $4.08
Cash & equivalents $1.02B $1.03B $2.98B
Total debt $68.41B $26.01B $295.00B
Shares (diluted) 3.46B 1.02B 1.14B
Enterprise value $64.41B $53.02B $97.53B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricETMPLXSO
P/E 14.1x 12.6x 22.6x
P/FCF 13.6x 17.8x -32.6x
P/Operating cash flow 5.9x 10.0x 10.0x
P/S 0.7x 4.5x 3.5x
P/B 1.4x 4.2x 2.5x
P/Tangible book 1.6x 4.6x 2.5x
EV/EBITDA 8.2x 11.5x 13.1x
EV/EBIT 12.8x 14.4x 24.5x
EV/Revenue 1.3x 6.4x 5.9x
EV/FCF 26.5x 25.3x -54.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 11.4x 14.1x 16.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.01 2.42 0.71

Growth

14 metrics
MetricETMPLXSO
Revenue growth (1Y) 33.3% 8.7% 6.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.0% 4.9% 3.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 18.9% 9.5% 5.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.2% 2.5% 1.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 16.5% 11.4% 1.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 12.0% 4.8% 14.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 16.1% 9.6% 8.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 4.7% 16.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 12.6% 10.6% 5.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.0% 5.2% 31.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 8.8% -1.6% 15.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.9% 5.6% 23.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -8.5% -32.1% -152.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.3% -6.8% -3.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricETMPLXSO
Gross margin 23.6% 87.8% 83.3%
EBITDA margin 15.7% 55.4% 45.2%
Operating margin 10.0% 44.4% 24.2%
Pretax margin 7.1% 36.1% 17.4%
Net margin 4.7% 35.8% 15.4%
FCF margin 4.9% 25.2% -10.8%
Operating cash flow margin 11.3% 45.2% 35.3%
Return on equity 14.0% 33.4% 9.2%
Return on assets 4.8% 11.1% 2.9%
Return on invested capital 8.4% 14.6% 5.1%
Return on capital employed 8.4% 14.8% 5.1%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.3x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 1.3x 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricETMPLXSO
Debt / assets 46.2% 60.5% 46.6%
Debt / equity 1.4x 1.8x 1.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 4.0x 3.4x 5.3x
Debt / FCF 13.1x 7.8x -23.1x
Liabilities / assets 65.9% 66.8% 73.9%
Equity / assets 34.1% 33.2% 26.1%
Interest coverage 2.9x 5.3x 2.3x
Current ratio 1.2x 0.9x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.9x 0.8x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.3x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricETMPLXSO
Dividend yield 6.5% 7.4% 3.2%
Net buyback yield – 0.5% –
Shareholder yield 6.5% 7.9% 3.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 67.9% 89.3% 66.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) 91.6% 127.5% -94.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) 2.9% 12.3% 4.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 11.8% 1.2%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusETMPLXSO
Forward P/E 11.5xFY2026 14.3xFY2026 19.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.80FY2026 $4.10FY2026 $4.85FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +48.8%FY2026 -14.9%FY2026 +12.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -9.4% +13.7% -3.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $124.23BFY2026 $13.68BFY2026 $31.53BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +45.2%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026 +6.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.4% -4.0% +8.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersETMPLXSO
Held by institutions 31.4% 18.8% 72.5%
Institutions holding 1,279 625 2,363
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.9% -3.3% +5.7%
Institutions buying 628 301 1,248
Institutions selling 340 144 724
Buyers to sellers 1.85 2.09 1.72

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ETMPLXSO
ET 1.00 0.48 0.16
MPLX 0.48 1.00 0.20
SO 0.16 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ET, MPLX and SO?

Southern (SO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Energy Transfer (ET) $70.97B, Mplx (MPLX) $59.46B, Southern (SO) $106.48B.

Which stock is cheaper, ET, MPLX and SO?

Mplx (MPLX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Energy Transfer (ET) 14.1x, Mplx (MPLX) 12.6x, Southern (SO) 22.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Energy Transfer (ET) is cheapest (Energy Transfer (ET) 11.5x, Mplx (MPLX) 14.3x, Southern (SO) 19.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Energy Transfer (ET) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Energy Transfer (ET) +33.3%, Mplx (MPLX) +8.7%, Southern (SO) +6.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mplx (MPLX) has the highest net margin (Energy Transfer (ET) 4.7%, Mplx (MPLX) 35.8%, Southern (SO) 15.4%). On return on invested capital, Mplx (MPLX) leads (Energy Transfer (ET) 8.4%, Mplx (MPLX) 14.6%, Southern (SO) 5.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Energy Transfer (ET) returned the most: Energy Transfer (ET) +23.2%, Mplx (MPLX) +16.3%, Southern (SO) -3.5%. Over five years, Energy Transfer (ET) compounded fastest (Energy Transfer (ET) +16.2%/yr, Mplx (MPLX) +13.7%/yr, Southern (SO) +8.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Mplx (MPLX) has the highest dividend yield: Energy Transfer (ET) 6.54%, Mplx (MPLX) 7.36%, Southern (SO) 3.24%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mplx (MPLX) has been the steadiest (Energy Transfer (ET) 17.5%, Mplx (MPLX) 17.1%, Southern (SO) 17.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ET, MPLX and SO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Mplx (MPLX) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.