Contrasting Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) & StealthGas (NASDAQ:GASS)

StealthGas (NASDAQ:GASS) and Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for StealthGas and Western Midstream Partners, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
StealthGas	0	1	0	0	2.00
Western Midstream Partners	0	6	3	2	2.64

Western Midstream Partners has a consensus price target of $49.89, indicating a potential upside of 9.76%. Given Western Midstream Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Western Midstream Partners is more favorable than StealthGas.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
StealthGas	34.97%	7.87%	7.60%
Western Midstream Partners	29.44%	33.13%	8.74%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares StealthGas and Western Midstream Partners”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
StealthGas	$173.16 million	1.93	$60.65 million	$1.59	5.59
Western Midstream Partners	$3.84 billion	4.89	$1.18 billion	$3.18	14.29

Western Midstream Partners has higher revenue and earnings than StealthGas. StealthGas 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.

Risk and Volatility

StealthGas has a beta of 0.25, meaning that its stock price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Midstream Partners has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

66.3% of StealthGas shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.8% of Western Midstream Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.1% of StealthGas shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Western Midstream Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Western Midstream Partners beats StealthGas on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About StealthGas

StealthGas Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides seaborne transportation services to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) producers and users worldwide. The company's carriers carry various petroleum gas products in liquefied form, including propane, butane, butadiene, isopropane, propylene, and vinyl chloride monomer, as well as ammonia; refined petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and jet fuel; and edible oils and chemicals. It offers crude oil and natural gas. The company operates a fleet of 33 LPG carries, including six JV vessels. StealthGas Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is based in Athens, Greece.

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.