Western Gas Equity Partners (WGP) Competitors

Western Gas Equity Partners (NYSE:WGP) and Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, media sentiment, earnings, community ranking, dividends and institutional ownership.

Is WGP or WES more profitable?

Western Midstream Partners has a net margin of 42.99% compared to Western Gas Equity Partners' net margin of 19.06%. Western Midstream Partners' return on equity of 46.02% beat Western Gas Equity Partners' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Gas Equity Partners	19.06%	11.72%	4.80%
Western Midstream Partners	42.99%	46.02%	12.18%

Which has more risk & volatility, WGP or WES?

Western Gas Equity Partners has a beta of 1.54, suggesting that its share price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Midstream Partners has a beta of 2.9, suggesting that its share price is 190% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation and earnings, WGP or WES?

Western Midstream Partners has higher revenue and earnings than Western Gas Equity Partners. Western Midstream Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Western Gas Equity Partners, 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	16.39
Western Midstream Partners	$3.53B	4.13	$1.02B	$3.92	9.79

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in WGP or WES?

Western Midstream Partners received 249 more outperform votes than Western Gas Equity Partners when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 68.59% of users gave Western Midstream Partners an outperform vote while only 63.19% of users gave Western Gas Equity Partners an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Western Gas Equity Partners	Outperform Votes 345 63.19%	Underperform Votes 201 36.81%
Western Midstream Partners	Outperform Votes 594 68.59%	Underperform Votes 272 31.41%

Is WGP or WES 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%. Western Midstream Partners pays an annual dividend of $3.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.1%. 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. Western Midstream Partners pays out 89.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Western Midstream Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts prefer WGP or WES?

Western Midstream Partners has a consensus price target of $37.88, indicating a potential downside of 1.26%. Given Western Midstream Partners' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Western Midstream Partners 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
Western Midstream Partners	2 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.90

Does the media prefer WGP or WES?

In the previous week, Western Midstream Partners had 7 more articles in the media than Western Gas Equity Partners. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Western Midstream Partners and 0 mentions for Western Gas Equity Partners. Western Midstream Partners' average media sentiment score of 1.52 beat Western Gas Equity Partners' score of 0.00 indicating that Western Midstream Partners is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Western Gas Equity Partners	Neutral
Western Midstream Partners	Very Positive

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of WGP or WES?

21.6% of Western Gas Equity Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.8% of Western Midstream Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Western Midstream Partners shares are held by 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.

Summary

Western Midstream Partners beats Western Gas Equity Partners on 18 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.