Cheniere Energy (LNG) Competitors

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

Is LNG or WMB 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
Cheniere Energy	20.71%	37.19%	7.61%
Williams Companies	21.17%	15.85%	4.40%

Is LNG or WMB a better dividend stock?

Cheniere Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Williams Companies pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Cheniere Energy pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor LNG or WMB?

Williams Companies received 10 more outperform votes than Cheniere Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 74.29% of users gave Cheniere Energy an outperform vote while only 71.34% of users gave Williams Companies an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Cheniere Energy	Outperform Votes 682 74.29%	Underperform Votes 236 25.71%
Williams Companies	Outperform Votes 692 71.34%	Underperform Votes 278 28.66%

Which has better valuation and earnings, LNG or WMB?

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
Cheniere Energy	$15.70B	3.24	$9.88B	$14.23	15.97
Williams Companies	$10.50B	6.92	$2.23B	$1.83	32.57

Does the media refer more to LNG or WMB?

In the previous week, Williams Companies had 4 more articles in the media than Cheniere Energy. MarketBeat recorded 44 mentions for Williams Companies and 40 mentions for Cheniere Energy. Williams Companies' average media sentiment score of 1.49 beat Cheniere Energy's score of 1.36 indicating that Williams Companies is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cheniere Energy	28 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Williams Companies	40 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, LNG or WMB?

Cheniere Energy has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Williams Companies has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer LNG or WMB?

Cheniere Energy currently has a consensus price target of $239.79, indicating a potential upside of 5.52%. Williams Companies has a consensus price target of $55.21, indicating a potential downside of 7.35%. Given Cheniere Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Cheniere Energy is more favorable than Williams Companies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cheniere Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.93
Williams Companies	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.47

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in LNG or WMB?

87.3% of Cheniere Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.4% of Williams Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Cheniere Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Williams Companies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Cheniere Energy beats Williams Companies on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.