TC Pipelines, (TCLP) vs. Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE) Critical Comparison

TC Pipelines, (NASDAQ: TCLP) and Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitabiliy, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for TC Pipelines, and Energy Transfer Equity, L.P., as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TC Pipelines,	0	0	0	0	N/A
Energy Transfer Equity, L.P.	0	5	10	0	2.67

Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. has a consensus price target of $20.57, suggesting a potential upside of 16.68%. Given Energy Transfer Equity, L.P.’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. is more favorable than TC Pipelines,.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares TC Pipelines, and Energy Transfer Equity, L.P.’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TC Pipelines,	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Energy Transfer Equity, L.P.	$41.06 billion	0.46	$5.47 billion	$0.84	20.99

Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. has higher revenue and earnings than TC Pipelines,.

Profitability

This table compares TC Pipelines, and Energy Transfer Equity, L.P.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TC Pipelines,	84.27%	23.48%	9.51%
Energy Transfer Equity, L.P.	2.24%	4.02%	1.21%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

51.3% of Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. pays an annual dividend of $1.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.5%. TC Pipelines, does not pay a dividend. Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. pays out 135.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. TC Pipelines, has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Summary

Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. beats TC Pipelines, on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

TC Pipelines, Company Profile

TC PipeLines, LP is a master limited partnership. The Company acquires, owns and participates in the management of energy infrastructure businesses in North America. The Company’s pipeline systems transport natural gas in the United States. As of December 31, 2016, the Company had four pipelines and equity ownership interests in three natural gas interstate pipeline systems that are collectively designed to transport approximately 9.1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from producing regions and import facilities to market hubs and consuming markets primarily in the Western, Midwestern and Eastern United States. The Company’s pipeline systems include Gas Transmission Northwest LLC (GTN), Bison Pipeline LLC (Bison), North Baja Pipeline, LLC (North Baja), Tuscarora Gas Transmission Company (Tuscarora), Northern Border Pipeline Company (Northern Border), Portland Natural Gas Transmission System (PNGTS), and Great Lakes Gas Transmission Limited Partnership (Great Lakes).

Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. Company Profile

Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (ETE) owns equity interests in Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (ETP) and Sunoco LP, which are engaged in diversified energy-related services. The Company’s segments include Investment in ETP, including the consolidated operations of ETP; Investment in Sunoco LP, including the consolidated operations of Sunoco LP; Investment in Lake Charles LNG, including the operations of Lake Charles LNG, and Corporate and Other. Its Investment in ETP segment includes the ETP’s operations, which include intrastate transportation and storage operations; interstate transportation and storage operations; midstream operations; liquids transportation and services operations; ETP’s Investment in Sunoco Logistics; Retail Marketing operations, and ETP’s other operations and Investments. The Investment in Sunoco LP segment includes wholesale operations and retail operations. Lake Charles LNG owns a LNG import terminal and regasification facility located on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast.