Frontline (NYSE:FRO) and The Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) are both transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.
Volatility & Risk
Frontline has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Williams Companies has a beta of 1.72, meaning that its share price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Frontline and The Williams Companies' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Frontline | 38.35% | 34.28% | 13.95% |
The Williams Companies | 1.86% | 7.77% | 2.70% |
Dividends
Frontline pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 21.7%. The Williams Companies pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.7%. Frontline pays out 195.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. The Williams Companies pays out 161.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. The Williams Companies has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Frontline and The Williams Companies' gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Frontline | $957.32 million | 1.52 | $139.97 million | $0.82 | 8.98 |
The Williams Companies | $8.20 billion | 3.51 | $850 million | $0.99 | 23.98 |
The Williams Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Frontline. Frontline is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than The Williams Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
21.9% of Frontline shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.6% of The Williams Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. 48.1% of Frontline shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of The Williams Companies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Frontline and The Williams Companies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Frontline | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1.88 |
The Williams Companies | 0 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 2.93 |
Frontline currently has a consensus target price of $7.76, suggesting a potential upside of 5.43%. The Williams Companies has a consensus target price of $23.8571, suggesting a potential upside of 0.49%. Given Frontline's higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Frontline is more favorable than The Williams Companies.
Summary
The Williams Companies beats Frontline on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.