Western Gas Equity Partners (WGP) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer WES or WGP?

Western Midstream Partners received 250 more outperform votes than Western Gas Equity Partners when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 68.55% of users gave Western Midstream Partners an outperform vote while only 63.19% of users gave Western Gas Equity Partners an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Western Midstream Partners	Outperform Votes 595 68.55%	Underperform Votes 273 31.45%
Western Gas Equity Partners	Outperform Votes 345 63.19%	Underperform Votes 201 36.81%

Is WES or WGP more profitable?

Western Midstream Partners has a net margin of 42.99% compared to Western Gas Equity Partners' net margin of 19.06%. Western Midstream Partners' return on equity of 46.02% beat Western Gas Equity Partners' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Midstream Partners	42.99%	46.02%	12.18%
Western Gas Equity Partners	19.06%	11.72%	4.80%

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, WES or WGP?

Western Midstream Partners has higher revenue and earnings than Western Gas Equity Partners. Western Midstream Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Western Gas Equity Partners, 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
Western Midstream Partners	$3.61B	3.84	$1.02B	$4.03	9.00
Western Gas Equity Partners	$1.99B	4.00	$369.43M	$2.34	15.53

Which has more volatility and risk, WES or WGP?

Western Midstream Partners has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Gas Equity Partners has a beta of 1.54, suggesting that its share price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is WES or WGP a better dividend stock?

Western Midstream Partners pays an annual dividend of $3.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.0%. Western Gas Equity Partners pays an annual dividend of $2.41 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.6%. Western Midstream Partners pays out 90.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. 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. Western Midstream Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of WES or WGP?

84.8% of Western Midstream Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 21.6% of Western Gas Equity Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Western Midstream Partners shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to WES or WGP?

In the previous week, Western Midstream Partners had 13 more articles in the media than Western Gas Equity Partners. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Western Midstream Partners and 0 mentions for Western Gas Equity Partners. Western Midstream Partners' average media sentiment score of 0.66 beat Western Gas Equity Partners' score of 0.00 indicating that Western Midstream Partners is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Western Midstream Partners	Positive
Western Gas Equity Partners	Neutral

Do analysts prefer WES or WGP?

Western Midstream Partners presently has a consensus price target of $38.43, suggesting a potential upside of 5.92%. Given Western Midstream Partners' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Western Midstream Partners is more favorable than Western Gas Equity Partners.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Midstream Partners	2 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.86
Western Gas Equity Partners	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Summary

Western Midstream Partners beats Western Gas Equity Partners on 17 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.