Western Gas Equity Partners (WGP) Competitors

EQT (NYSE:EQT) and Western Gas Equity Partners (NYSE:WGP) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, media sentiment and valuation.

Does the media prefer EQT or WGP?

In the previous week, EQT had 31 more articles in the media than Western Gas Equity Partners. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for EQT and 0 mentions for Western Gas Equity Partners. EQT's average media sentiment score of 1.24 beat Western Gas Equity Partners' score of 0.00 indicating that EQT is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
EQT	Positive
Western Gas Equity Partners	Neutral

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, EQT or WGP?

Western Gas Equity Partners has lower revenue, but higher earnings than EQT. Western Gas Equity Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than EQT, 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
EQT	$5.27B	6.07	$230.58M	$1.85	27.72
Western Gas Equity Partners	$1.99B	4.19	$369.43M	$2.34	16.28

Is EQT or WGP a better dividend stock?

EQT pays an annual dividend of $0.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Western Gas Equity Partners pays an annual dividend of $2.41 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. EQT pays out 34.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Western Gas Equity Partners pays out 103.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. EQT has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Which has more risk and volatility, EQT or WGP?

EQT has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Gas Equity Partners has a beta of 1.54, indicating that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in EQT or WGP?

90.8% of EQT shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 21.6% of Western Gas Equity Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of EQT shares are owned by 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.

Is EQT or WGP more profitable?

Western Gas Equity Partners has a net margin of 19.06% compared to EQT's net margin of 15.87%. Western Gas Equity Partners' return on equity of 11.72% beat EQT's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
EQT	15.87%	6.24%	3.70%
Western Gas Equity Partners	19.06%	11.72%	4.80%

Do analysts recommend EQT or WGP?

EQT currently has a consensus price target of $60.84, indicating a potential upside of 18.62%. Given EQT's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe EQT is more favorable than Western Gas Equity Partners.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
EQT	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.68
Western Gas Equity Partners	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Summary

EQT beats Western Gas Equity Partners on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.