Williams Companies (WMB) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WMB or KMI?

Kinder Morgan received 141 more outperform votes than Williams Companies when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 71.43% of users gave Williams Companies an outperform vote while only 66.19% of users gave Kinder Morgan an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Williams Companies	Outperform Votes 695 71.43%	Underperform Votes 278 28.57%
Kinder Morgan	Outperform Votes 836 66.19%	Underperform Votes 427 33.81%

Which has better earnings & valuation, WMB or KMI?

Kinder Morgan has higher revenue and earnings than Williams Companies. Kinder Morgan 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	$10.78B	6.58	$2.23B	$1.87	31.12
Kinder Morgan	$15.50B	3.96	$2.61B	$1.16	23.81

Does the media favor WMB or KMI?

In the previous week, Williams Companies had 2 more articles in the media than Kinder Morgan. MarketBeat recorded 29 mentions for Williams Companies and 27 mentions for Kinder Morgan. Kinder Morgan's average media sentiment score of 1.61 beat Williams Companies' score of 1.57 indicating that Kinder Morgan is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Williams Companies	25 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Kinder Morgan	25 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do institutionals & insiders believe in WMB or KMI?

86.4% of Williams Companies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.5% of Kinder Morgan shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Williams Companies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.7% of Kinder Morgan shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is WMB or KMI a better dividend stock?

Williams Companies pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Kinder Morgan pays an annual dividend of $1.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Williams Companies pays out 107.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Kinder Morgan pays out 100.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Williams Companies has increased its dividend for 9 consecutive years and Kinder Morgan has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Kinder Morgan is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more risk & volatility, WMB or KMI?

Williams Companies has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kinder Morgan has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate WMB or KMI?

Williams Companies currently has a consensus price target of $60.50, suggesting a potential upside of 3.95%. Kinder Morgan has a consensus price target of $29.79, suggesting a potential upside of 7.86%. Given Kinder Morgan's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Kinder Morgan 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)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
Kinder Morgan	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Is WMB or KMI more profitable?

Williams Companies has a net margin of 21.17% compared to Kinder Morgan's net margin of 17.31%. Williams Companies' return on equity of 15.85% beat Kinder Morgan's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Williams Companies	21.17%	15.85%	4.40%
Kinder Morgan	17.31%	8.09%	3.62%

Summary

Williams Companies and Kinder Morgan tied by winning 11 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.