DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE – Get Free Report) and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP – Get Free Report) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.
Profitability
This table compares DTE Energy and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| DTE Energy | 8.00% | 12.19% | 2.74% |
| Brookfield Infrastructure Partners | 3.51% | 2.63% | 0.71% |
Volatility and Risk
DTE Energy has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| DTE Energy | $15.81 billion | 1.79 | $1.46 billion | $6.32 | 21.48 |
| Brookfield Infrastructure Partners | $23.10 billion | 0.76 | $771.00 million | $0.62 | 61.45 |
DTE Energy has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. DTE Energy 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.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
76.1% of DTE Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.9% of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of DTE Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Dividends
DTE Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.82 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. DTE Energy pays out 73.7% 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. DTE Energy has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has raised its dividend for 18 consecutive years. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for DTE Energy and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| DTE Energy | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 2.73 |
| Brookfield Infrastructure Partners | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 2.73 |
DTE Energy presently has a consensus target price of $157.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.65%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a consensus target price of $45.33, indicating a potential upside of 18.99%. Given Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is more favorable than DTE Energy.
Summary
DTE Energy beats Brookfield Infrastructure Partners on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
About DTE Energy
DTE Energy Company engages in the utility operations. The company's Electric segment generates, purchases, distributes, and sells electricity to various residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southeastern Michigan. It generates electricity through coal-fired plants, hydroelectric pumped storage, and nuclear plants, as well as wind and solar assets. This segment owns and operates distribution substations and line transformers. The company's Gas segment purchases, stores, transports, distributes, and sells natural gas to various residential, commercial, and industrial customers throughout Michigan; and sells storage and transportation capacity. Its DTE Vantage segment offers metallurgical and petroleum coke to steel and other industries; and power generation, steam production, chilled water production, and wastewater treatment services, as well as air supplies compressed air to industrial customers. Its Energy Trading segment engages in power, natural gas, and environmental marketing and trading; structured transactions; and the optimization of contracted natural gas pipeline transportation and storage positions. The company was founded in 1849 and is based in Detroit, Michigan.
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.
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