Dynagas LNG Partners (DLNG) and Dominion Midstream Partners, (NYSE:DM) Financial Analysis

Dynagas LNG Partners (NYSE: DLNG) and Dominion Midstream Partners, (NYSE:DM) are both transportation companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitabiliy and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

21.8% of Dynagas LNG Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.6% of Dominion Midstream Partners, shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.2% of Dominion Midstream Partners, shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Dynagas LNG Partners and Dominion Midstream Partners,’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dynagas LNG Partners	$166.20 million	3.16	$128.29 million	$1.58	9.36
Dominion Midstream Partners,	$488.50 million	5.57	$296.50 million	$1.33	20.60

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Dynagas LNG Partners and Dominion Midstream Partners,, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dynagas LNG Partners	0	3	3	0	2.50
Dominion Midstream Partners,	0	3	7	0	2.70

Dynagas LNG Partners currently has a consensus price target of $16.25, indicating a potential upside of 9.87%. Dominion Midstream Partners, has a consensus price target of $34.13, indicating a potential upside of 24.54%. Given Dominion Midstream Partners,’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Dominion Midstream Partners, is more favorable than Dynagas LNG Partners.

Volatility & Risk

Dynagas LNG Partners has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dominion Midstream Partners, has a beta of 1.69, meaning that its stock price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Dynagas LNG Partners and Dominion Midstream Partners,’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dynagas LNG Partners	37.68%	23.74%	6.28%
Dominion Midstream Partners,	20.43%	1.98%	1.59%

Dividends

Dynagas LNG Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.69 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.4%. Dominion Midstream Partners, pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Dynagas LNG Partners pays out 107.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Dominion Midstream Partners, pays out 82.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Dominion Midstream Partners, beats Dynagas LNG Partners on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

Dynagas LNG Partners Company Profile

Dynagas LNG Partners LP is a limited partnership, which focuses on owning and operating liquid natural gas (LNG) carriers. The Company’s vessels are employed on multi-year time charters with international energy companies. As of December 31, 2016, the Company owned and operated a fleet of six LNG carriers, consisting of the three LNG carriers in its Initial Fleet, the Clean Energy, the Ob River and the Amur River, and three 2013-built Ice Class LNG carriers that the Company acquired from its Sponsor the Arctic Aurora, the Yenisei River, and the Lena River (collectively referred as its Fleet). The vessels in its Fleet have an average age of 6.6 years and are contracted under multi-year charters with Shell, Gazprom, Statoil and Yamal with an average remaining charter term, as of March 17, 2017, of approximately 10.6 years, including the charter agreements relating to the Yenisei River and the Lena River with Yamal. The Company’s Fleet is managed by its manager, Dynagas Ltd.

Dominion Midstream Partners, Company Profile

Dominion Energy Midstream Partners, LP, formerly Dominion Midstream Partners, LP, is a limited partnership. The Company is formed to grow a portfolio of natural gas terminaling, processing, storage, transportation and related assets. The Company’s segments include Dominion Energy, which consists of gas transportation, liquefied natural gas (LNG) import and storage, and Corporate and Other. The Company owns the preferred equity interests and the general partner interest of Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP (Cove Point). Cove Point’s operations consist of LNG import and storage services at the Cove Point LNG Facility and the transportation of domestic natural gas and regasified LNG to Mid-Atlantic markets through the Cove Point Pipeline. The Cove Point LNG Facility includes an offshore pier, regasification facilities and associated equipment required to receive imported LNG from tankers; store LNG in storage tanks; regasify LNG, and deliver regasified LNG to the Cove Point Pipeline.