WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) versus Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) Head-To-Head Analysis

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

77.2% of WEC Energy Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.9% of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of WEC Energy Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for WEC Energy Group and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WEC Energy Group	0	10	7	1	2.50
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners	0	3	8	0	2.73

WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus target price of $121.91, indicating a potential upside of 16.39%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a consensus target price of $45.33, indicating a potential upside of 28.47%. Given Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is more favorable than WEC Energy Group.

Volatility & Risk

WEC Energy Group has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares WEC Energy Group and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WEC Energy Group	$9.80 billion	3.48	$1.56 billion	$5.16	20.30
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners	$23.10 billion	0.70	$771.00 million	$0.62	56.91

WEC Energy Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. WEC Energy Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares WEC Energy Group and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WEC Energy Group	16.69%	12.90%	3.58%
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners	3.51%	2.63%	0.71%

Dividends

WEC Energy Group pays an annual dividend of $3.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.82 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. WEC Energy Group pays out 73.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners pays out 293.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. WEC Energy Group has raised its dividend for 23 consecutive years and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has raised its dividend for 18 consecutive years.

Summary

WEC Energy Group beats Brookfield Infrastructure Partners on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides regulated natural gas and electricity, and renewable and nonregulated renewable energy services in the United States. It operates through Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, and Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure segments. The company generates and distributes electricity from coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear, as well as renewable energy resources, including wind, solar, hydroelectric, and biomass; and distributes and transports natural gas. It also owns, maintains, monitors, and operates electric transmission systems; and generates, distributes, and sells steam. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated approximately 35,500 miles of overhead distribution lines and 36,500 miles of underground distribution cables, as well as 430 electric distribution substations and 523,700 line transformers; approximately 46,400 miles of natural gas distribution mains; 1,700 miles of natural gas transmission mains; 2.4 million natural gas lateral services; 490 natural gas distribution and transmission gate stations; and 69.3 billion cubic feet of working gas capacities in underground natural gas storage fields. The company was formerly known as Wisconsin Energy Corporation and changed its name to WEC Energy Group, Inc. in June 2015. WEC Energy Group, Inc. was founded in 1896 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

About Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. owns and operates utilities, transport, midstream, and data businesses in North and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company's Utilities segment operates approximately 2,900 km of electricity transmission lines; 4,200 km of natural gas pipelines; 8.1 million electricity and natural gas connections; and 0.6 million long-term contracted sub-metering services. This segment also offers heating, cooling, and energy solutions; gas distribution; water heaters; and heating, ventilation, and air conditioner rental, as well as other home services. Its Transport segment offers transportation, storage, and handling services for merchandise goods, commodities, and passengers through a network of approximately 22,000 km of track; 5,500 km of track network; 9,800 km of rail; and 3,300 km of motorways. The company's Midstream segment offers natural gas transmission, gathering and processing, and storage services through approximately 15,000 km of natural gas transmission pipelines; 570 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage; 17 natural gas processing plants; and 10,600 km of gas gathering pipelines, as well as 525,000 tonnes polypropylene production capacity. Its Data segment operates approximately 228,000 operational telecom towers; approximately 54,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables; approximately 1 million fiber-to-the-premise connections; two semiconductor manufacturing facilities; and 70 distributed antenna systems, as well as 135 data centers and 750 megawatts of critical load capacity and an additional approximate 670 megawatts of contracted capacity. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. operates as a subsidiary of Brookfield Corporation.