Cheniere Energy (LNG) Competitors

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

Does the media favor WMB or LNG?

In the previous week, Williams Companies had 7 more articles in the media than Cheniere Energy. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Williams Companies and 1 mentions for Cheniere Energy. Cheniere Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.16 beat Williams Companies' score of 0.17 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	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Cheniere Energy	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts recommend WMB or LNG?

Williams Companies currently has a consensus target price of $39.73, indicating a potential downside of 4.29%. Cheniere Energy has a consensus target price of $198.00, indicating a potential upside of 25.48%. Given Williams Companies' stronger consensus rating and higher possible 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	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Cheniere Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.90

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WMB or LNG?

Williams Companies received 20 more outperform votes than Cheniere Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 73.57% of users gave Cheniere Energy an outperform vote while only 72.56% of users gave Williams Companies an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Williams Companies	Outperform Votes 677 72.56%	Underperform Votes 256 27.44%
Cheniere Energy	Outperform Votes 657 73.57%	Underperform Votes 236 26.43%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, 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	$10.91B	4.64	$3.18B	$2.38	17.44
Cheniere Energy	$20.39B	1.77	$9.88B	$20.53	7.69

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of 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 company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Cheniere Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is WMB or LNG a better dividend stock?

Williams Companies pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Cheniere Energy pays an annual dividend of $1.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Williams Companies pays out 79.8% 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 8.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Williams Companies has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years and Cheniere Energy has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Williams Companies is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, WMB or LNG?

Williams Companies has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cheniere Energy has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is WMB or LNG more profitable?

Cheniere Energy has a net margin of 28.55% compared to Cheniere Energy's net margin of 27.29%. Williams Companies' return on equity of 48.19% beat Cheniere Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Williams Companies	27.29%	16.27%	4.62%
Cheniere Energy	28.55%	48.19%	9.02%

Summary

Cheniere Energy beats Williams Companies on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.