Analyzing Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) & Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB)

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) and Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Williams Companies and Par Pacific, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Williams Companies	0	2	15	3	3.05
Par Pacific	0	1	11	1	3.00

Williams Companies currently has a consensus price target of $85.60, suggesting a potential upside of 13.77%. Par Pacific has a consensus price target of $81.57, suggesting a potential downside of 2.12%. Given Williams Companies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Williams Companies is more favorable than Par Pacific.

Risk & Volatility

Williams Companies has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Par Pacific has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Williams Companies and Par Pacific”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Williams Companies	$11.95 billion	7.70	$2.62 billion	$2.51	29.98
Par Pacific	$7.46 billion	0.56	$369.39 million	$17.14	4.86

Williams Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Par Pacific. Par Pacific is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Williams Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

86.4% of Williams Companies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.2% of Par Pacific shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Williams Companies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.6% of Par Pacific shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Williams Companies and Par Pacific’s 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%
Par Pacific	9.94%	56.19%	21.61%

Summary

Williams Companies beats Par Pacific on 9 of the 15 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 Par Pacific

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. owns and operates energy and infrastructure businesses. The company operates through Refining, Retail, and Logistics segments. The Refining segment owns and operates refineries that produce gasoline, distillate, asphalt, and other products primarily for consumption in Kapolei, Hawaii, Newcastle, Wyoming, Tacoma, Washington, and Billings, Montana. The Retail segment operates fuel retail outlets, which sell merchandise, such as soft drinks, prepared foods, and other sundries in Hawaii under the Hele, 76, and nomnom brands; and gasoline, diesel, and retail merchandise in Washington and Idaho. The Logistics segment owns and operates terminals, pipelines, single point mooring, marine vessels, storage facilities, loading and truck racks, and rail facilities to distribute ethanol, petroleum, and refined products throughout Hawaii, the United States West Coast, Washington, the Dakotas, and Wyoming; and a jet fuel storage facility and pipeline that serves Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. It also holds interest in refined products pipeline. In addition, the company owns and operates a marine terminal, a unit train-capable rail loading terminal; a truck rack, and a proprietary pipeline that serves Joint Base Lewis McChord. The company was formerly known as Par Petroleum Corporation and changed its name to Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. in October 2015. Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.