Western Gas Equity Partners (WGP) Competitors

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

Is WGP or EQT a better dividend stock?

Western Gas Equity Partners pays an annual dividend of $2.41 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. EQT pays an annual dividend of $0.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. 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. EQT pays out 34.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. EQT has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

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

21.6% of Western Gas Equity Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.8% of EQT shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of EQT shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, WGP or EQT?

Western Gas Equity Partners has higher earnings, but lower revenue than EQT. Western Gas Equity Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than EQT, 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 Gas Equity Partners	$1.99B	4.22	$369.43M	$2.34	16.40
EQT	$7.28B	4.37	$230.58M	$1.85	27.54

Does the media refer more to WGP or EQT?

In the previous week, EQT had 35 more articles in the media than Western Gas Equity Partners. MarketBeat recorded 35 mentions for EQT and 0 mentions for Western Gas Equity Partners. EQT's average media sentiment score of 1.35 beat Western Gas Equity Partners' score of 0.00 indicating that EQT is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Western Gas Equity Partners	Neutral
EQT	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, WGP or EQT?

Western Gas Equity Partners has a beta of 1.54, suggesting that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EQT has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is WGP or EQT more profitable?

Western Gas Equity Partners has a net margin of 19.06% compared to EQT's net margin of 15.87%. Western Gas Equity Partners' return on equity of 11.72% beat EQT's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Gas Equity Partners	19.06%	11.72%	4.80%
EQT	15.87%	6.24%	3.70%

Do analysts rate WGP or EQT?

EQT has a consensus price target of $62.14, suggesting a potential upside of 21.99%. Given EQT's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe EQT is more favorable than Western Gas Equity Partners.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Gas Equity Partners	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
EQT	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Summary

EQT beats Western Gas Equity Partners on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.