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 compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, community ranking, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, media sentiment and valuation.

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

86.4% of Williams Companies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.3% of Cheniere Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Williams Companies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Cheniere Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to WMB or LNG?

In the previous week, Cheniere Energy had 5 more articles in the media than Williams Companies. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for Cheniere Energy and 26 mentions for Williams Companies. Cheniere Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.41 beat Williams Companies' score of 1.39 indicating that Cheniere Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Williams Companies	22 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Cheniere Energy	24 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, WMB or LNG?

Williams Companies has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cheniere Energy has a beta of 0.43, meaning that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate WMB or LNG?

Williams Companies currently has a consensus target price of $61.25, suggesting a potential upside of 1.26%. Cheniere Energy has a consensus target price of $252.23, suggesting a potential upside of 8.32%. Given Cheniere Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly 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)	7 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Cheniere Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the MarketBeat Community favor 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 71.31% of users gave Williams Companies an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Williams Companies	Outperform Votes 696 71.31%	Underperform Votes 280 28.69%
Cheniere Energy	Outperform Votes 688 74.30%	Underperform Votes 238 25.70%

Is WMB or LNG more profitable?

Williams Companies has a net margin of 21.18% compared to Cheniere Energy's net margin of 18.37%. Cheniere Energy's return on equity of 32.62% beat Williams Companies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Williams Companies	21.18%	15.95%	4.37%
Cheniere Energy	18.37%	32.62%	7.18%

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.

Which has stronger earnings & 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	6.84	$2.23B	$1.87	32.35
Cheniere Energy	$15.70B	3.29	$3.25B	$13.67	17.03

Summary

Cheniere Energy beats Williams Companies on 14 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.