EPD vs WMB Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
EPD and WMB are both high-quality midstream businesses with different commodity focus and structure. Enterprise is a partnership centred on natural gas liquids and Gulf Coast exports, with a long distribution growth record and conservative finances. Williams is a corporation centred on natural gas transmission, anchored by Transco, benefiting from rising gas demand for power and liquefied natural gas exports.
Use this EPD vs WMB comparison to combine the tax question with the commodity question. Enterprise offers natural gas liquids and export exposure with K-1 complexity. Williams offers natural gas transmission exposure with simple dividend reporting, and its growth case rests on electricity demand and gas exports rather than on liquids volumes.
WMB holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. EPD leads on both 1-year return (+24.10%) and forward P/E quality (11.55x vs 28.13x for WMB), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, EPD is growing revenue faster (60.80%), while WMB maintains the higher operating margin (39.54%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies similar upside for both: +12.86% for EPD and +15.62% for WMB.
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want natural gas liquids and export exposure with a high distribution
- Value a long distribution growth record and conservative leverage
- Hold in a taxable account and accept K-1 reporting
- Are comfortable with dependence on producer volumes and petrochemical demand
- Want natural gas transmission exposure anchored by a premier pipeline system
- Believe power demand and liquefied natural gas exports will drive gas growth
- Prefer simple 1099 dividend reporting and retirement account suitability
- Accept permitting risk and concentration in natural gas
| Metric | EPD | WMB |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 44.6 | 51.8 |
| AI ranki | #742 | #381 |
| Latest closei | $36.75 | $69.26 |
| 1M returni | -6.11% | -6.92% |
| 6M returni | -3.68% | -5.87% |
| 1Y returni | +24.10% | +10.18% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | EPD | WMB |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $13.23K (+32.3%) started 2025-09-25 | $10.94K (+9.4%) started 2025-09-25 |
| 5Y ago | $36.58K (+265.8%) started 2021-09-27 | $38.21K (+282.1%) started 2021-09-27 |
| 10Y ago | $76.09K (+660.9%) started 2016-09-26 | $65.56K (+555.6%) started 2016-09-26 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | EPD | WMB |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $79.36B | $90.18B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 12.72 | 29.37 |
| Forward P/Ei | 11.55 | 28.13 |
| Price/Salesi | 1.36 | 6.67 |
| EV/Revenuei | 1.95 | 9.98 |
| Analyst targeti | $41.48 | $85.25 |
| Target upsidei | +12.86% | +15.62% |
| Metric | EPD | WMB |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 60.80% | 7.80% |
| Earnings growthi | 28.50% | 51.20% |
| EPS growthi | +28.50% | +51.20% |
| FCF margini | +1.84% | -12.31% |
| Operating margini | 11.76% | 39.54% |
| Profit margini | 10.79% | 24.94% |
| ROIC proxyi | 20.85% | 21.50% |
| Return on equityi | 20.85% | 21.50% |
| Dividend yieldi | 6.00% | 2.83% |
| Payout ratioi | 75.78% | 81.67% |
| Dividend growth streaki | 11 yrs | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.48 | 0.61 |
| Debt/equityi | 109.97 | 200.37 |
| Current ratioi | 0.93 | 0.48 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.56 | 0.31 |
Over the past year, EPD and WMB have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.48), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | EPD | WMB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +24.10% | +9.40% |
| CAGRi | +24.12% | +9.41% | |
| Volatilityi | 17.68% | 24.12% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.06 | 0.31 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.63 | 0.44 | |
| Max drawdowni | 9.32% | 12.77% | |
| Current drawdowni | 6.63% | 12.77% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 2.45% | 5.48% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 3.32% | 6.49% | |
| Max daily dropi | 3.17% | 5.20% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 6.79% | 10.74% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +140.07% | +216.18% |
| CAGRi | +19.17% | +25.92% | |
| Volatilityi | 17.09% | 23.92% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.85 | 0.90 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.21 | 1.28 | |
| Max drawdowni | 18.06% | 23.01% | |
| Current drawdowni | 6.63% | 12.77% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 3.84% | 6.12% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 5.38% | 8.12% | |
| Max daily dropi | 7.83% | 8.43% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 15.10% | 14.76% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +175.49% | +262.16% |
| CAGRi | +10.67% | +13.74% | |
| Volatilityi | 24.05% | 30.19% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.36 | 0.43 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.50 | 0.61 | |
| Max drawdowni | 58.04% | 68.08% | |
| Current drawdowni | 6.63% | 12.77% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 8.11% | 11.03% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 12.86% | 14.77% | |
| Max daily dropi | 18.60% | 23.74% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 39.75% | 40.78% |
| Category | EPD | WMB |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Enterprise Products Partners L.P. | The Williams Companies, Inc. |
| Sector | Energy / Midstream | Energy |
| Industry | Oil & Gas Midstream | Oil & Gas Midstream |
| Core business | Large midstream partnership focused on natural gas liquids, with extensive pipelines, fractionation facilities, storage, and Gulf Coast export terminals, plus crude oil, natural gas, and petrochemical assets. Units issue a K-1. | Natural gas focused midstream corporation whose central asset is the Transco pipeline system serving the eastern United States, alongside gathering, processing, and storage assets. Structured as a corporation issuing a 1099. |
| Investor focus | Distributable cash flow coverage, natural gas liquids export volumes, growth project completions, leverage, and the distribution growth record. | Transco expansion projects, natural gas demand from power generation and LNG exports, contracted cash flow, leverage, and dividend growth. |
- Long unbroken record of annual distribution increases, unusual in the sector
- Conservative leverage and high distribution coverage relative to peers
- Leading Gulf Coast natural gas liquids export position serving international petrochemical demand
- Transco is among the most valuable pipeline systems in the country, serving dense demand markets
- Natural gas demand growth from power generation and liquefied natural gas exports supports expansion projects
- Corporate structure with straightforward 1099 dividend reporting
- Partnership structure brings K-1 reporting and retirement account complications
- Volume growth depends on producer drilling and global petrochemical demand
- Large growth projects require sustained capital spending
- Pipeline expansion requires permits that face legal and political opposition in some regions
- Concentrated in natural gas, so it lacks liquids and crude diversification
- Growth depends on securing contracted capacity for new projects
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