Cheniere Energy (LNG) Competitors

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

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 0.9%. 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. Cheniere Energy pays out 14.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Williams Companies has raised its dividend for 9 consecutive years. Williams Companies is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in 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 company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Cheniere Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend WMB or LNG?

Williams Companies currently has a consensus price target of $60.75, indicating a potential upside of 0.36%. Cheniere Energy has a consensus price target of $252.23, indicating a potential upside of 8.15%. Given Cheniere Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly 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)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
Cheniere Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more volatility & risk, WMB or LNG?

Williams Companies has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cheniere Energy has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer WMB or LNG?

Williams Companies received 8 more outperform votes than Cheniere Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 74.30% of users gave Cheniere Energy an outperform vote while only 71.46% of users gave Williams Companies an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Williams Companies	Outperform Votes 696 71.46%	Underperform Votes 278 28.54%
Cheniere Energy	Outperform Votes 688 74.30%	Underperform Votes 238 25.70%

Which has preferable 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	$10.78B	6.85	$2.23B	$1.87	32.37
Cheniere Energy	$16.89B	3.06	$9.88B	$13.67	17.06

Does the media refer more to WMB or LNG?

In the previous week, Williams Companies had 1 more articles in the media than Cheniere Energy. MarketBeat recorded 35 mentions for Williams Companies and 34 mentions for Cheniere Energy. Williams Companies' average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Cheniere Energy's score of 1.37 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	27 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Cheniere Energy	26 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Cheniere Energy beats Williams Companies on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.