Critical Comparison: Spire (NYSE:SR) versus Cheniere Energy Partners (NYSE:CQP)

Cheniere Energy Partners (NYSE:CQP) and Spire (NYSE:SR) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Cheniere Energy Partners and Spire, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cheniere Energy Partners	2	0	0	0	1.00
Spire	1	6	2	0	2.11

Cheniere Energy Partners presently has a consensus price target of $50.50, suggesting a potential downside of 8.94%. Spire has a consensus price target of $71.50, suggesting a potential upside of 4.29%. Given Spire’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Spire is more favorable than Cheniere Energy Partners.

Profitability

This table compares Cheniere Energy Partners and Spire’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cheniere Energy Partners	31.28%	-328.60%	13.93%
Spire	9.52%	8.10%	2.27%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

46.5% of Cheniere Energy Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of Spire shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of Spire shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cheniere Energy Partners and Spire”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cheniere Energy Partners	$8.93 billion	3.01	$4.25 billion	$4.63	11.98
Spire	$2.59 billion	1.53	$250.90 million	$4.31	15.91

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

Volatility and Risk

Cheniere Energy Partners has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Spire has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Cheniere Energy Partners pays an annual dividend of $3.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Spire pays an annual dividend of $3.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Cheniere Energy Partners pays out 67.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Spire pays out 72.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Spire has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years. Cheniere Energy Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Cheniere Energy Partners beats Spire on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cheniere Energy Partners

Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P., through its subsidiaries, provides liquefied natural gas (LNG) to integrated energy companies, utilities, and energy trading companies worldwide. The company owns and operates natural gas liquefaction and export facility at the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal located in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It also owns a natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Sabine Pass LNG terminal with various interstate pipelines. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. is a subsidiary of Cheniere Energy, Inc.

About Spire

Spire Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the purchase, retail distribution, and sale of natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and other end-users of natural gas in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Gas Utility, Gas Marketing, and Midstream. It is also involved in the marketing of natural gas and related services; and transportation and storage of natural gas. In addition, the company engages in the operation of propane through its propane pipeline, risk management, and other activities. The company was formerly known as The Laclede Group, Inc. and changed its name to Spire Inc. in April 2016. Spire Inc. was founded in 1857 and is based in Saint Louis, Missouri.