Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) and Granite Ridge Resources (NYSE:GRNT – Get Free Report) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.
Volatility and Risk
Williams Companies has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Granite Ridge Resources has a beta of 0.24, indicating that its share price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Williams Companies and Granite Ridge Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Williams Companies | 0 | 1 | 18 | 3 | 3.09 |
| Granite Ridge Resources | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2.60 |
Dividends
Williams Companies pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Granite Ridge Resources pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.6%. Williams Companies pays out 83.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Granite Ridge Resources pays out -209.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Williams Companies has increased its dividend for 9 consecutive years. Granite Ridge Resources is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Williams Companies and Granite Ridge Resources”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Williams Companies | $11.95 billion | 7.32 | $2.62 billion | $2.51 | 28.47 |
| Granite Ridge Resources | $450.31 million | 1.35 | $24.35 million | ($0.21) | -21.88 |
Williams Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Granite Ridge Resources. Granite Ridge Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Williams Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Williams Companies and Granite Ridge Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Williams Companies | 25.17% | 18.49% | 4.75% |
| Granite Ridge Resources | -5.56% | 4.67% | 2.33% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
86.4% of Williams Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 31.6% of Granite Ridge Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Williams Companies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of Granite Ridge Resources shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Williams Companies beats Granite Ridge Resources on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Williams Companies
The Williams Companies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region. The Northeast G&P segment engages in the midstream gathering, processing, and fractionation activities in the Marcellus Shale region primarily in Pennsylvania and New York, and the Utica Shale region of eastern Ohio. The West segment consists of gas gathering, processing, and treating operations in the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado and Wyoming, the Barnett Shale region of north-central Texas, the Eagle Ford Shale region of South Texas, the Haynesville Shale region of northwest Louisiana, the Mid-Continent region that includes the Anadarko and Permian basins, and the DJ Basin of Colorado; and operates natural gas liquid (NGL) fractionation and storage facilities in central Kansas near Conway. The Gas & NGL Marketing Services segment provides wholesale marketing, trading, storage, and transportation of natural gas for natural gas utilities, municipalities, power generators, and producers; asset management services; and transports and markets NGLs. The company owns and operates 33,000 miles of pipelines. The Williams Companies, Inc. was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
About Granite Ridge Resources
Granite Ridge Resources, Inc. operates as a non-operated oil and gas exploration and production company. It owns a portfolio of wells and acreage across the Permian and other unconventional basins in the United States. Granite Ridge Resources, Inc. is based in Dallas, Texas.
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