Head-To-Head Contrast: Genesis Energy (NYSE:GEL) & Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES)

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) and Genesis Energy (NYSE:GEL) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Western Midstream Partners and Genesis Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Midstream Partners	2	3	1	0	1.83
Genesis Energy	0	0	3	0	3.00

Western Midstream Partners currently has a consensus target price of $39.83, suggesting a potential upside of 3.89%. Genesis Energy has a consensus target price of $16.50, suggesting a potential downside of 4.49%. Given Western Midstream Partners’ higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Western Midstream Partners is more favorable than Genesis Energy.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Western Midstream Partners and Genesis Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western Midstream Partners	$3.61 billion	4.06	$1.57 billion	$3.35	11.45
Genesis Energy	$2.97 billion	0.71	-$63.95 million	($5.21)	-3.32

Western Midstream Partners has higher revenue and earnings than Genesis Energy. Genesis Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Western Midstream Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

84.8% of Western Midstream Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.8% of Genesis Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Western Midstream Partners shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Genesis 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.

Volatility & Risk

Western Midstream Partners has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Genesis Energy has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Western Midstream Partners and Genesis Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Midstream Partners	35.79%	38.52%	10.25%
Genesis Energy	-20.98%	-19.28%	-1.84%

Dividends

Western Midstream Partners pays an annual dividend of $3.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.5%. Genesis Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Western Midstream Partners pays out 108.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Genesis Energy pays out -12.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Western Midstream Partners has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Genesis Energy has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Western Midstream Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Western Midstream Partners beats Genesis Energy on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Western Midstream Partners

Western Midstream Partners, LP, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a midstream energy company primarily in the United States. It is involved in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, and transporting natural gas; gathering, stabilizing, and transporting condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and crude oil; and gathering and disposing produced water. The company also buys and sells natural gas, NGLs, and condensate. It operates assets located in Texas, New Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, and North-central Pennsylvania. Western Midstream Holdings, LLC operates as the general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as Western Gas Equity Partners, LP and changed its name to Western Midstream Partners, LP in February 2019. Western Midstream Partners, LP was incorporated in 2007 and is based in The Woodlands, Texas.

About Genesis Energy

Genesis Energy, L.P. provides integrated suite of midstream services in crude oil and natural gas industry in the United States. It operates through Offshore Pipeline Transportation, Soda and Sulfur Services, Marine Transportation, and Onshore Facilities and Transportation segments. The Offshore Pipeline Transportation segment engages in offshore crude oil and natural gas pipeline transportation and handling operations, as well as deep water pipeline servicing. This segment also owns interests in offshore crude oil and natural gas pipeline systems, platforms, and related infrastructure. The Soda and Sulfur Services segment produces, markets, and sells soda ash; and provides sulfur removal services. This segment also owns and operates soda ash production facilities, underground trona ore mines and brine solution mining operations and related equipment, and logistics and other assets; and sells sodium hydrosulfide and caustic soda to industrial and commercial companies involved in the mining of base metals. The Marine Transportation segment offers waterborne transportation of petroleum and crude oil in North America. This segment owns a fleet of 91 barges and 42 push/tow boats. The Onshore Facilities and Transportation segment offers onshore facilities and transportation services to crude oil refineries and producers by purchasing, transporting, storing, blending, and marketing crude oil and refined products; and operates trucks, trailers, railcars, and terminals and tankage in various locations along the Gulf Coast. This segment also transports crude oil, as well as owns four onshore crude oil pipeline systems and four operational crude oil rail unloading facilities. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.