In a report published Monday, Barclays analyst Heejung (Helen) Ryoo upgraded the rating on Markwest Energy Partners LP (NYSE: MWE) from Equal-Weight to Overweight, while maintaining the $75 price target, based on the stock valuation and attractive risk/reward profile.

"We believe MWE's current valuation does not give any credit for the company's accelerating distribution growth profile and its franchise position in Marcellus/Utica, where we see highly visible production growth," Ryoo stated.

Given the expectations of wet gas production growth from Markwest Energy's six major Northeast-based producer partners, the analyst believes that the company would be able to achieve its 10 percent growth guidance for 2017.

According to the Barclays report, "With MWE underperforming Marcellus/Utica MLPs as well as the AMZ index we see a compelling investment case. While weak NGL prices and a potential change in the competitive landscape in the Northeast appear to weigh on the stock, we see limited downside from commodity prices."

The analyst believes that Markwest Energy is among the best positioned MLPs to benefit from industry consolidation, which is expected to pick up, given the industry dynamics in recent times.

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