Financial Survey: Cheniere Energy Partners (NYSE:CQP) versus Spire (NYSE:SR)

Spire (NYSE:SR) and Cheniere Energy Partners (NYSE:CQP) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Spire and Cheniere Energy Partners, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spire	1	6	2	0	2.11
Cheniere Energy Partners	2	0	0	0	1.00

Spire presently has a consensus price target of $71.50, suggesting a potential upside of 6.04%. Cheniere Energy Partners has a consensus price target of $50.50, suggesting a potential downside of 5.61%. Given Spire’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Spire is more favorable than Cheniere Energy Partners.

Risk & Volatility

Spire has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cheniere Energy Partners has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

87.4% of Spire shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.5% of Cheniere Energy Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of Spire shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Spire pays an annual dividend of $3.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Cheniere Energy Partners pays an annual dividend of $3.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Spire pays out 72.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cheniere Energy Partners pays out 67.0% 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. Spire has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years. Cheniere Energy Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Spire and Cheniere Energy Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spire	9.52%	8.10%	2.27%
Cheniere Energy Partners	31.28%	-328.60%	13.93%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Spire and Cheniere Energy Partners”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spire	$2.59 billion	1.50	$250.90 million	$4.31	15.65
Cheniere Energy Partners	$8.93 billion	2.90	$4.25 billion	$4.63	11.56

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

Summary

Cheniere Energy Partners beats Spire on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Spire

Spire Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the purchase, retail distribution, and sale of natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and other end-users of natural gas in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Gas Utility, Gas Marketing, and Midstream. It is also involved in the marketing of natural gas and related services; and transportation and storage of natural gas. In addition, the company engages in the operation of propane through its propane pipeline, risk management, and other activities. The company was formerly known as The Laclede Group, Inc. and changed its name to Spire Inc. in April 2016. Spire Inc. was founded in 1857 and is based in Saint Louis, Missouri.

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.