Comparing Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) & Cheniere Energy Partners (NYSE:CQP)

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

Volatility and Risk

Cheniere Energy Partners has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northwest Natural has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Cheniere Energy Partners and Northwest Natural, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cheniere Energy Partners	2	0	0	0	1.00
Northwest Natural	0	0	2	0	3.00

Cheniere Energy Partners presently has a consensus price target of $50.50, suggesting a potential downside of 11.08%. Northwest Natural has a consensus price target of $43.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.00%. Given Northwest Natural’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Northwest Natural is more favorable than Cheniere Energy Partners.

Dividends

Cheniere Energy Partners pays an annual dividend of $3.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Northwest Natural pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Cheniere Energy Partners pays out 67.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Northwest Natural pays out 92.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Northwest Natural has increased its dividend for 70 consecutive years. Cheniere Energy Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cheniere Energy Partners and Northwest Natural”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	3.08	$4.25 billion	$4.63	12.27
Northwest Natural	$1.14 billion	1.38	$93.87 million	$2.12	18.49

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

46.5% of Cheniere Energy Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.1% of Northwest Natural shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Northwest Natural shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Cheniere Energy Partners and Northwest Natural’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%
Northwest Natural	6.90%	5.89%	1.61%

Summary

Cheniere Energy Partners beats Northwest Natural 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 Northwest Natural

Northwest Natural Holding Company, through its subsidiary, Northwest Natural Gas Company, provides regulated natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the United States. The company operates a mist gas storage facility contracted to other utilities, third-party marketers, and electric generators; offers natural gas asset management services; and operates an appliance retail center. It also engages in gas storage, water and wastewater, non-regulated renewable natural gas, and other investment businesses. In addition, the company provides natural gas service in Oregon and southwest Washington; and water and wastewater connections. Northwest Natural Holding Company was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.