Comparing Summit Midstream (NYSE:SMC) & Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD)

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) and Summit Midstream (NYSE:SMC) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Enterprise Products Partners and Summit Midstream’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Enterprise Products Partners	10.32%	20.31%	8.04%
Summit Midstream	-23.01%	0.71%	0.22%

Volatility & Risk

Enterprise Products Partners has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Summit Midstream has a beta of 2.37, meaning that its share price is 137% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

26.1% of Enterprise Products Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.0% of Summit Midstream shares are owned by institutional investors. 32.6% of Enterprise Products Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of Summit Midstream shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Enterprise Products Partners and Summit Midstream”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Enterprise Products Partners	$49.72 billion	1.45	$5.53 billion	$2.67	12.43
Summit Midstream	$458.90 million	1.00	-$38.95 million	($12.81)	-3.36

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Enterprise Products Partners and Summit Midstream, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Enterprise Products Partners	0	4	6	1	2.73
Summit Midstream	0	0	0	0	0.00

Enterprise Products Partners presently has a consensus target price of $34.44, suggesting a potential upside of 3.78%. Given Enterprise Products Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Enterprise Products Partners is more favorable than Summit Midstream.

Summary

Enterprise Products Partners beats Summit Midstream on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Enterprise Products Partners

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. provides midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, petrochemicals, and refined products. It operates in four segments: NGL Pipelines & Services, Crude Oil Pipelines & Services, Natural Gas Pipelines & Services, and Petrochemical & Refined Products Services. The NGL Pipelines & Services segment offers natural gas processing and related NGL marketing services. It operates natural gas processing facilities located in Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming; NGL pipelines; NGL fractionation facilities; NGL and related product storage facilities; and NGL marine terminals. The Crude Oil Pipelines & Services segment operates crude oil pipelines; and crude oil storage and marine terminals, which include a fleet of approximately 250 tractor-trailer tank trucks that are used to transport crude oil. It also engages in crude oil marketing activities. The Natural Gas Pipelines & Services segment operates natural gas pipeline systems to gather, treat, and transport natural gas. It leases underground salt dome natural gas storage facilities in Napoleonville, Louisiana; owns an underground salt dome storage cavern in Wharton County, Texas; and markets natural gas. The Petrochemical & Refined Products Services segment operates propylene fractionation facilities, including propylene fractionation units and propane dehydrogenation facilities, and related marketing activities; butane isomerization complex and related deisobutanizer operations; and octane enhancement, isobutane dehydrogenation, and high purity isobutylene production facilities. It also operates refined products pipelines and terminals; and ethylene export terminals; and provides refined products marketing and marine transportation services. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Summit Midstream

Summit Midstream Corporation focuses on owning, developing, and operating midstream energy infrastructure assets primarily shale formations in the continental United States. It operates natural gas, crude oil, and produced water gathering systems in four unconventional resource basins, including the Williston Basin in North Dakota, which includes the Bakken and Three Forks shale formations; the Denver-Julesburg Basin that consists of the Niobrara and Codell shale formations in Colorado and Wyoming; the Fort Worth Basin in Texas, which comprises the Barnett Shale formation; and the Piceance Basin in Colorado, which includes the Mesaverde formation, as well as the emerging Mancos and Niobrara Shale formations. It serves natural gas and crude oil producers. Summit Midstream Corporation was founded in 2012 and is based in Houston, Texas.