NuStar Energy (NS) Competitors

NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) and Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) are both mid-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, media sentiment, institutional ownership, community ranking, risk and dividends.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NS or PAGP?

Plains GP received 41 more outperform votes than NuStar Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 57.58% of users gave Plains GP an outperform vote while only 56.56% of users gave NuStar Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
NuStar Energy	Outperform Votes 388 56.56%	Underperform Votes 298 43.44%
Plains GP	Outperform Votes 429 57.58%	Underperform Votes 316 42.42%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, NS or PAGP?

NuStar Energy has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Plains GP. Plains GP is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NuStar Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NuStar Energy	$1.63B	1.75	$273.66M	$0.71	31.80
Plains GP	$48.71B	0.08	$198M	$1.02	18.39

Is NS or PAGP more profitable?

NuStar Energy has a net margin of 16.75% compared to Plains GP's net margin of 0.41%. NuStar Energy's return on equity of 107.61% beat Plains GP's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NuStar Energy	16.75%	107.61%	4.74%
Plains GP	0.41%	1.33%	0.69%

Does the media prefer NS or PAGP?

In the previous week, Plains GP had 2 more articles in the media than NuStar Energy. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Plains GP and 2 mentions for NuStar Energy. NuStar Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.21 beat Plains GP's score of 0.40 indicating that NuStar Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NuStar Energy	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Plains GP	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in NS or PAGP?

63.1% of NuStar Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.3% of Plains GP shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of NuStar Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.9% of Plains GP shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, NS or PAGP?

NuStar Energy has a beta of 1.7, meaning that its stock price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Plains GP has a beta of 1.55, meaning that its stock price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend NS or PAGP?

NuStar Energy currently has a consensus target price of $19.33, suggesting a potential downside of 14.04%. Plains GP has a consensus target price of $19.55, suggesting a potential upside of 4.21%. Given Plains GP's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Plains GP is more favorable than NuStar Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NuStar Energy	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.80
Plains GP	2 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.56

Is NS or PAGP a better dividend stock?

NuStar Energy pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. Plains GP pays an annual dividend of $1.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.8%. NuStar Energy pays out 225.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Plains GP pays out 124.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Plains GP beats NuStar Energy on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.