Reviewing Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) & FutureFuel (NYSE:FF)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

84.8% of Western Midstream Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.6% of FutureFuel shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Western Midstream Partners shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 42.6% of FutureFuel shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Western Midstream Partners pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.2%. FutureFuel pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Western Midstream Partners pays out 117.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. FutureFuel pays out -5.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Western Midstream Partners has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Western Midstream Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility & Risk

Western Midstream Partners has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FutureFuel has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Western Midstream Partners and FutureFuel”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western Midstream Partners	$3.84 billion	4.87	$1.18 billion	$3.18	14.25
FutureFuel	$95.74 million	2.33	-$49.40 million	($0.70)	-7.25

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Midstream Partners	29.44%	33.13%	8.74%
FutureFuel	-19.94%	-19.75%	-15.47%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Western Midstream Partners and FutureFuel, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Midstream Partners	0	6	3	2	2.64
FutureFuel	1	0	0	0	1.00

Western Midstream Partners presently has a consensus price target of $49.89, suggesting a potential upside of 10.07%. Given Western Midstream Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Western Midstream Partners is more favorable than FutureFuel.

Summary

Western Midstream Partners beats FutureFuel on 15 of the 18 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 FutureFuel

FutureFuel Corp., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells diversified chemical, bio-based fuel, and bio-based specialty chemical products in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Chemicals and Biofuels. The Chemicals segment provides various custom chemicals that are used in the coatings, chemical intermediates, industrial and consumer cleaning, oil and gas, and specialty polymers industries; and performance chemicals, such as polymer modifiers, glycerin products, and various specialty chemicals and solvents. The Biofuels segment is involved in the production and sale of biodiesel and petrodiesel blends; and markets its biodiesel products directly to customers through trucks, barges, and rail cars. FutureFuel Corp. is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.