Energy Transfer (ET) Competitors

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) and Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) are both large-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, community ranking, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, media sentiment, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Is WMB or ET a better dividend stock?

Williams Companies pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Energy Transfer pays an annual dividend of $1.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.9%. Williams Companies pays out 72.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Energy Transfer pays out 115.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Williams Companies has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years and Energy Transfer has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Does the media favor WMB or ET?

In the previous week, Energy Transfer had 6 more articles in the media than Williams Companies. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Energy Transfer and 15 mentions for Williams Companies. Williams Companies' average media sentiment score of 0.91 beat Energy Transfer's score of 0.73 indicating that Energy Transfer is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Williams Companies	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Energy Transfer	11 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, WMB or ET?

Energy Transfer has higher revenue and earnings than Williams Companies. Energy Transfer is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Williams Companies, 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
Williams Companies	$10.91B	4.38	$3.18B	$2.62	14.98
Energy Transfer	$78.59B	0.68	$3.47B	$1.09	14.56

Is WMB or ET more profitable?

Williams Companies has a net margin of 29.22% compared to Williams Companies' net margin of 4.85%. Energy Transfer's return on equity of 16.20% beat Williams Companies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Williams Companies	29.22%	16.20%	4.64%
Energy Transfer	4.85%	12.17%	4.00%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of WMB or ET?

86.4% of Williams Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.2% of Energy Transfer shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Williams Companies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Energy Transfer shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, WMB or ET?

Williams Companies has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Energy Transfer has a beta of 1.64, meaning that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend WMB or ET?

Williams Companies presently has a consensus price target of $39.22, suggesting a potential downside of 0.07%. Energy Transfer has a consensus price target of $18.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.42%. Given Williams Companies' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Energy Transfer is more favorable than Williams Companies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Williams Companies	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.30
Energy Transfer	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WMB or ET?

Williams Companies received 286 more outperform votes than Energy Transfer when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 72.77% of users gave Williams Companies an outperform vote while only 71.43% of users gave Energy Transfer an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Williams Companies	Outperform Votes 676 72.77%	Underperform Votes 253 27.23%
Energy Transfer	Outperform Votes 390 71.43%	Underperform Votes 156 28.57%

Summary

Williams Companies beats Energy Transfer on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.