Critical Review: Summit Midstream Partners (NYSE:SMC) vs. EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG)

Summit Midstream Partners (NYSE:SMC) and EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Summit Midstream Partners has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EOG Resources has a beta of 0.36, indicating that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Summit Midstream Partners and EOG Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Summit Midstream Partners	-0.06%	-0.04%	-0.01%
EOG Resources	25.44%	23.44%	13.58%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

43.0% of Summit Midstream Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.9% of EOG Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. 43.0% of Summit Midstream Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of EOG Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Summit Midstream Partners and EOG Resources”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Summit Midstream Partners	$562.09 million	1.12	$8.93 million	($1.11)	-27.90
EOG Resources	$22.63 billion	3.84	$4.98 billion	$12.85	12.89

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Summit Midstream Partners and EOG Resources, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Summit Midstream Partners	0	1	2	1	3.00
EOG Resources	0	17	9	2	2.46

Summit Midstream Partners currently has a consensus price target of $43.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.84%. EOG Resources has a consensus price target of $161.24, indicating a potential downside of 2.62%. Given Summit Midstream Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Summit Midstream Partners is more favorable than EOG Resources.

Summary

EOG Resources beats Summit Midstream Partners on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Summit Midstream Partners

Summit Midstream Corporation focuses on owning, developing, and operating midstream energy infrastructure assets primarily shale formations in the continental United States. It operates natural gas, crude oil, and produced water gathering systems in four unconventional resource basins, including the Williston Basin in North Dakota, which includes the Bakken and Three Forks shale formations; the Denver-Julesburg Basin that consists of the Niobrara and Codell shale formations in Colorado and Wyoming; the Fort Worth Basin in Texas, which comprises the Barnett Shale formation; and the Piceance Basin in Colorado, which includes the Mesaverde formation, as well as the emerging Mancos and Niobrara Shale formations. It serves natural gas and crude oil producers. Summit Midstream Corporation was founded in 2012 and is based in Houston, Texas.

About EOG Resources

EOG Resources, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily in producing basins in the United States, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and internationally. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company. EOG Resources, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.