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ET vs. KMI: Which Midstream Stock Offers Investors Better Returns?
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Key Takeaways
ET's 2025 and 2026 EPS estimates rose 2.86% and 4.26%, while KMI's 2025 EPS estimate declined 0.8%.
ET offers a 7.2% dividend yield vs. KMI's 4.04%, both topping the S&P 500's average of 1.58%.
ET trades at 12.54X forward P/E, cheaper than KMI's 22.08X and the S&P 500's 22.43X.
The companies operating in the Zacks Oil and Gas Production and Pipeline industry play a critical role in meeting global energy demand, driven by economic growth, industrialization and rising consumption in emerging markets. Despite the long-term shift toward renewables, hydrocarbons remain essential for transportation, heating and petrochemical production. Technological advancements, such as horizontal drilling and enhanced recovery techniques, continue to unlock new reserves and boost productivity, reinforcing the sector's resilience and profitability.
Pipeline infrastructure is vital for efficiently transporting crude oil, natural gas and refined products across regions. Stable, fee-based revenue models and long-term contracts offer pipeline operators predictable cash flows, insulating them from commodity price volatility. As North American shale production expands and export capacity rises, demand for midstream infrastructure is set to grow.
The upstream and pipeline segments offer investors a balanced opportunity, providing exposure to commodity upside through production and defensive, income-generating potential through midstream assets. Amid such a backdrop, let’s compare Energy Transfer (ET - Free Report) and Kinder Morgan (KMI - Free Report) , two of the largest midstream energy companies in North America, operating vast networks of pipelines and storage facilities for natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids.
Energy Transfer offers a compelling investment opportunity through its expansive and diversified midstream infrastructure, which spans natural gas, NGLs, crude oil and refined products. With stable, fee-based cash flows, strategic export terminal access, and disciplined capital allocation, ET is well-positioned to benefit from rising U.S. energy production and global demand. Its strong distribution yield, consistent EBITDA growth, and deleveraging efforts further enhance its appeal as a long-term income and growth investment in the energy sector.
Kinder Morgan presents a stable investment case driven by its vast, primarily natural gas-focused midstream network and long-term, fee-based contracts that provide predictable cash flows. The company’s conservative capital structure, strong dividend coverage, and focus on energy transition, through investments in renewable natural gas, position it for resilience and moderate growth. KMI appeals to income-focused investors seeking reliable returns with lower commodity price exposure in a critical segment of North America’s energy infrastructure.
Let’s focus on the fundamental factors of these companies and try to find which one presently has a better possibility to provide higher returns to investors.
ET & KMI’s Earnings Growth Projections
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ET’s earnings per share in 2025 and 2026 has increased by 2.86% and 4.26%, respectively, in the past 60 days. Long-term (three to five years) earnings growth per share is pegged at 21.40%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Kinder Morgan’s earnings per share in 2025 has gone down by 0.8% in the past 60 days, and 2026 earnings per share moved up by 2.26% in the same time period.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Return on Equity (ROE)
ROE is an essential financial indicator that evaluates a company’s efficiency in generating profits from the equity invested by its shareholders. It demonstrates how well management is utilizing the capital provided to increase earnings and deliver value.
ET’s current ROE is 11.47% compared with KMI’s ROE of 16.6%. Both companies are currently underperforming the S&P 500 ’s ROE of 17.02%.
ET & KMI’s Dividend Yield
Dividends are recurring payments distributed by a company to its shareholders, offering investors a tangible return on their investment. They serve as a key indicator of a company’s financial strength and stability, often reflecting robust cash flow and steady earnings performance.
Currently, the dividend yield for ET is 7.2%, while the same for Kinder Morgan is 4.04%. The dividend yields of both companies are higher than the S&P 500 yield of 1.58%.
Debt to Capital
The Oil-Energy sector is a capital-intensive one, and huge investments are required at regular intervals to upgrade, maintain and expand operations. The usage of new evolving technology also requires investments. Therefore, the companies operating in the sector borrow from the market and add it to their internal cash generation to fund their long-term investments.
ET’s current debt-to-capital currently stands at 56.6% compared with KMI’s debt-to-capital of 48.42%. Both companies are using higher debt to fund their business, as their debt usage is higher than the S&P 500’s debt-to-capital, which stands at 38.07%.
Valuation
Energy Transfer currently appears to be trading at a discount compared with Kinder Morgan on a forward 12-month Price/Earnings basis.
ET is currently trading at 12.54X, while KMI is trading at 22.08X compared with the S&P 500’s 22.43X.
Price Performance
ET’s units have gained 4.2% in the past month compared with KMI’s rally of 1.2% and the S&P 500’s return of 4.4%.
Price Performance (One month)
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Conclusion
Energy Transfer and Kinder Morgan are strategically investing in their infrastructure to expand operations and successfully transfer hydrocarbons from the production region to their end users.
ET’s rising earnings estimates, higher dividend, better return on equity, cheaper valuation, and rising earnings estimates and higher dividend yield make it a better choice in the oil and energy space.
Image: Bigstock
ET vs. KMI: Which Midstream Stock Offers Investors Better Returns?
Key Takeaways
The companies operating in the Zacks Oil and Gas Production and Pipeline industry play a critical role in meeting global energy demand, driven by economic growth, industrialization and rising consumption in emerging markets. Despite the long-term shift toward renewables, hydrocarbons remain essential for transportation, heating and petrochemical production. Technological advancements, such as horizontal drilling and enhanced recovery techniques, continue to unlock new reserves and boost productivity, reinforcing the sector's resilience and profitability.
Pipeline infrastructure is vital for efficiently transporting crude oil, natural gas and refined products across regions. Stable, fee-based revenue models and long-term contracts offer pipeline operators predictable cash flows, insulating them from commodity price volatility. As North American shale production expands and export capacity rises, demand for midstream infrastructure is set to grow.
The upstream and pipeline segments offer investors a balanced opportunity, providing exposure to commodity upside through production and defensive, income-generating potential through midstream assets. Amid such a backdrop, let’s compare Energy Transfer (ET - Free Report) and Kinder Morgan (KMI - Free Report) , two of the largest midstream energy companies in North America, operating vast networks of pipelines and storage facilities for natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids.
Energy Transfer offers a compelling investment opportunity through its expansive and diversified midstream infrastructure, which spans natural gas, NGLs, crude oil and refined products. With stable, fee-based cash flows, strategic export terminal access, and disciplined capital allocation, ET is well-positioned to benefit from rising U.S. energy production and global demand. Its strong distribution yield, consistent EBITDA growth, and deleveraging efforts further enhance its appeal as a long-term income and growth investment in the energy sector.
Kinder Morgan presents a stable investment case driven by its vast, primarily natural gas-focused midstream network and long-term, fee-based contracts that provide predictable cash flows. The company’s conservative capital structure, strong dividend coverage, and focus on energy transition, through investments in renewable natural gas, position it for resilience and moderate growth. KMI appeals to income-focused investors seeking reliable returns with lower commodity price exposure in a critical segment of North America’s energy infrastructure.
Let’s focus on the fundamental factors of these companies and try to find which one presently has a better possibility to provide higher returns to investors.
ET & KMI’s Earnings Growth Projections
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ET’s earnings per share in 2025 and 2026 has increased by 2.86% and 4.26%, respectively, in the past 60 days. Long-term (three to five years) earnings growth per share is pegged at 21.40%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Kinder Morgan’s earnings per share in 2025 has gone down by 0.8% in the past 60 days, and 2026 earnings per share moved up by 2.26% in the same time period.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Return on Equity (ROE)
ROE is an essential financial indicator that evaluates a company’s efficiency in generating profits from the equity invested by its shareholders. It demonstrates how well management is utilizing the capital provided to increase earnings and deliver value.
ET’s current ROE is 11.47% compared with KMI’s ROE of 16.6%. Both companies are currently underperforming the S&P 500 ’s ROE of 17.02%.
ET & KMI’s Dividend Yield
Dividends are recurring payments distributed by a company to its shareholders, offering investors a tangible return on their investment. They serve as a key indicator of a company’s financial strength and stability, often reflecting robust cash flow and steady earnings performance.
Currently, the dividend yield for ET is 7.2%, while the same for Kinder Morgan is 4.04%. The dividend yields of both companies are higher than the S&P 500 yield of 1.58%.
Debt to Capital
The Oil-Energy sector is a capital-intensive one, and huge investments are required at regular intervals to upgrade, maintain and expand operations. The usage of new evolving technology also requires investments. Therefore, the companies operating in the sector borrow from the market and add it to their internal cash generation to fund their long-term investments.
ET’s current debt-to-capital currently stands at 56.6% compared with KMI’s debt-to-capital of 48.42%. Both companies are using higher debt to fund their business, as their debt usage is higher than the S&P 500’s debt-to-capital, which stands at 38.07%.
Valuation
Energy Transfer currently appears to be trading at a discount compared with Kinder Morgan on a forward 12-month Price/Earnings basis.
ET is currently trading at 12.54X, while KMI is trading at 22.08X compared with the S&P 500’s 22.43X.
Price Performance
ET’s units have gained 4.2% in the past month compared with KMI’s rally of 1.2% and the S&P 500’s return of 4.4%.
Price Performance (One month)
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Conclusion
Energy Transfer and Kinder Morgan are strategically investing in their infrastructure to expand operations and successfully transfer hydrocarbons from the production region to their end users.
ET’s rising earnings estimates, higher dividend, better return on equity, cheaper valuation, and rising earnings estimates and higher dividend yield make it a better choice in the oil and energy space.
Based on the above discussion, Energy Transfer currently has an edge over Kinder Morgan, despite the stocks carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.