Analyzing Cheniere Energy Partners (NYSE:CQP) & Spire (NYSE:SR)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Spire and Cheniere Energy Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	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 target price of $71.50, suggesting a potential upside of 7.53%. Cheniere Energy Partners has a consensus target price of $50.50, suggesting a potential downside of 8.98%. Given Spire’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Spire is more favorable than Cheniere Energy Partners.

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 5.6%. 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 raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years. Cheniere Energy Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spire	$2.59 billion	1.48	$250.90 million	$4.31	15.43
Cheniere Energy Partners	$8.93 billion	3.01	$4.25 billion	$4.63	11.98

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.

Volatility & Risk

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 0.75, suggesting that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

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

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.