Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) and Dominion Midstream Partners, (DM) Financial Analysis

Dominion Midstream Partners, (NYSE: DM) and Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitabiliy, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

Dominion Midstream Partners, has a beta of 1.67, suggesting that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Golar LNG Limited has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

56.6% of Dominion Midstream Partners, shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.0% of Golar LNG Limited shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.2% of Dominion Midstream Partners, shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Golar LNG Limited shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Dominion Midstream Partners, and Golar LNG Limited’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dominion Midstream Partners,	$518.60 million	5.04	$295.90 million	$1.36	19.38
Golar LNG Limited	$88.81 million	24.77	-$60.92 million	N/A	N/A

Dominion Midstream Partners, has higher revenue and earnings than Golar LNG Limited.

Dividends

Dominion Midstream Partners, pays an annual dividend of $1.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Golar LNG Limited pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Dominion Midstream Partners, pays out 84.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dominion Midstream Partners,	19.08%	1.88%	1.47%
Golar LNG Limited	-228.55%	-7.51%	-3.15%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Dominion Midstream Partners, and Golar LNG Limited, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dominion Midstream Partners,	0	3	7	0	2.70
Golar LNG Limited	0	2	9	0	2.82

Dominion Midstream Partners, currently has a consensus price target of $33.88, suggesting a potential upside of 28.56%. Golar LNG Limited has a consensus price target of $35.17, suggesting a potential upside of 56.64%. Given Golar LNG Limited’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Golar LNG Limited is more favorable than Dominion Midstream Partners,.

Summary

Dominion Midstream Partners, beats Golar LNG Limited on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

Golar LNG Limited Company Profile

Golar LNG Limited is a midstream liquefied natural gas (LNG) company engaged primarily in the transportation, regasification, liquefaction and trading of LNG. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, ownership, operation and chartering of LNG carriers and Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRUs) through its subsidiaries and affiliates, and the development of LNG projects, such as floating LNGs (FLNGs). The Company’s segments include Vessel operations, LNG trading and FLNG. Under the Vessel operations segment, the Company operates and charters out LNG carriers and FSRUs on fixed terms to customers. Through the LNG trading segment, the Company provides physical and financial risk management in LNG and gas markets for customers around the world. The FLNG segment includes the costs associated with the conversion of its LNG carrier, the Hilli, to a FLNG. The Company, along with its affiliate, Golar LNG Partners LP, has a combined fleet of approximately 30 vessels.