Head to Head Review: KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) & Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B (NYSE:TGS)

Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B (NYSE:TGS) and KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) are both energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. KNOT Offshore Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B pays out 35.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. KNOT Offshore Partners pays out 68.2% 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. Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B and KNOT Offshore Partners”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B	$1,840.62 billion	0.00	$336.69 million	$2.61	10.54
KNOT Offshore Partners	$364.44 million	1.00	$22.96 million	$0.44	24.53

Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B has higher revenue and earnings than KNOT Offshore Partners. Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than KNOT Offshore Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B and KNOT Offshore Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B	0	2	1	0	2.33
KNOT Offshore Partners	0	3	1	1	2.60

Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B presently has a consensus target price of $39.00, indicating a potential upside of 41.83%. KNOT Offshore Partners has a consensus target price of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 29.74%. Given Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B is more favorable than KNOT Offshore Partners.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

3.3% of Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.8% of KNOT Offshore Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 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.

Profitability

This table compares Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B and KNOT Offshore Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B	27.38%	16.29%	10.07%
KNOT Offshore Partners	3.90%	5.73%	1.84%

Volatility and Risk

Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KNOT Offshore Partners has a beta of -0.05, suggesting that its share price is 105% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B beats KNOT Offshore Partners on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Transportadora De Gas Sa Ord B

Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A. engages in transportation of natural gas, and production and commercialization of natural gas liquids in Argentina and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Natural Gas Transportation Services; Liquids Production and Commercialization; Midstream; and Telecommunications. The Natural Gas Transportation segment transports natural gas through pipeline system to distribution companies, power plants, and industrial customers. It provides operation and maintenance services for the natural gas transportation facilities. The Liquids Production and Commercialization segment produces and commercializes natural gas liquids, such as ethane, liquid petroleum gas, natural gasoline, propane, and butane. This segment offers certain related services comprising reception, storage, and dispatch of the liquids. The Midstream segment provides natural gas conditioning services; treatment, removal of impurities and natural gas compression, including the collection and transport of natural gas; and inspection and maintenance of pipelines and compressor plants services. In addition, this segment offers steam generation for electricity production and management services for expansion works and steam generation for the production of electricity. The Telecommunications segment offers data transmission services through a network of digital terrestrial radio relay. It serves residential, commercial, industrial, and electric power generation end users. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A. is a subsidiary of Compañía de Inversiones de Energía S.A.

About KNOT Offshore Partners

KNOT Offshore Partners LP acquires, owns, and operates shuttle tankers under long-term charters in the North Sea and Brazil. The company provides loading, transportation, and discharge of crude oil under time charters and bareboat charters. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Aberdeen, the United Kingdom.