Cheniere Energy (LNG) Competitors

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

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

86.4% of Williams Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.3% of Cheniere Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Williams Companies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Cheniere Energy shares are owned by 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.

Is WMB or LNG more profitable?

Williams Companies has a net margin of 21.17% compared to Cheniere Energy's net margin of 20.71%. Cheniere Energy's return on equity of 37.19% beat Williams Companies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Williams Companies	21.17%	15.85%	4.40%
Cheniere Energy	20.71%	37.19%	7.61%

Do analysts rate WMB or LNG?

Williams Companies presently has a consensus price target of $57.77, indicating a potential downside of 3.73%. Cheniere Energy has a consensus price target of $251.46, indicating a potential upside of 6.58%. Given Cheniere Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Cheniere Energy is more favorable than Williams Companies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Williams Companies	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
Cheniere Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WMB or LNG?

Williams Companies received 6 more outperform votes than Cheniere Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 74.35% of users gave Cheniere Energy an outperform vote while only 71.37% of users gave Williams Companies an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Williams Companies	Outperform Votes 693 71.37%	Underperform Votes 278 28.63%
Cheniere Energy	Outperform Votes 687 74.35%	Underperform Votes 237 25.65%

Which has more volatility & risk, WMB or LNG?

Williams Companies has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cheniere Energy has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, WMB or LNG?

Cheniere Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Williams Companies. Cheniere Energy 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	$10.50B	6.97	$2.23B	$1.83	32.79
Cheniere Energy	$15.70B	3.35	$9.88B	$14.23	16.58

Does the media refer more to WMB or LNG?

In the previous week, Cheniere Energy had 14 more articles in the media than Williams Companies. MarketBeat recorded 51 mentions for Cheniere Energy and 37 mentions for Williams Companies. Williams Companies' average media sentiment score of 1.08 beat Cheniere Energy's score of 1.05 indicating that Williams Companies is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Williams Companies	23 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Cheniere Energy	26 Very Positive mention(s)	10 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is WMB or LNG a better dividend stock?

Williams Companies pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Cheniere Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Williams Companies pays out 109.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Cheniere Energy pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Cheniere Energy beats Williams Companies on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.