HESM vs WMB: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of September 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: HESM is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. HESM and WMB share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined HESM and WMB exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Hess Midstream LP owns and operates midstream infrastructure in the Williston Basin (Bakken and Three Forks shale plays) in North Dakota, running three segments: gathering (oil, gas, and produced water pipelines), processing and storage (natural gas processing and NGL fractionation), and terminaling and export (crude and NGL loading and transport). It earns essentially all revenue from fixed, fee-based, long-term contracts with minimum-volume commitments, historically with Hess Corporation and now with Chevron following Chevron's July 2026 completion of its Hess acquisition. This structure insulates cash flow from short-term commodity-price swings, since HESM is paid for handling volumes rather than for the value of the barrels.

Full HESM guide

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE: WMB) is a Tulsa-based energy infrastructure company focused almost entirely on natural gas. Its crown jewel is Transco, an interstate pipeline running more than 10,000 miles from south Texas and the Gulf Coast up the Atlantic Seaboard to the New York City area, complemented by the Northwest Pipeline in the Pacific Northwest and an extensive footprint of gathering, processing, and storage assets in basins such as the Marcellus and Haynesville. Williams makes most of its money through long-term, fee-based and capacity-reservation contracts under which customers pay to reserve and use pipeline space largely regardless of how much gas actually flows, which gives its cash flows a utility-like stability. Across its systems, Williams handles roughly a third of the natural gas used in the United States.

Full WMB guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• HESM drivers: Fee-based, contracted cash flow; Return of capital.
• WMB drivers: Fee-based gas transport core; LNG export and Transco expansion growth.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: HESM carries significant concentration risk: growth depends almost entirely on drilling activity in a single basin (the Bakken) served by a single anchor customer (now Chevron). For WMB, williams carries meaningful leverage, with net debt of roughly $29.5 billion, so a period of higher-for-longer interest rates would raise refinancing costs and could compress free cash flow.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick HESM if you believe its drivers more; WMB if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the HESM and WMB guides.

HESM. HESM trades like an income-oriented midstream partnership, with a high single-digit distribution yield and mid-teens P/E supported by contracted, fee-based cash flow. Enterprise value sits near $11.6 billion, reflecting partnership leverage on top of the roughly $7.8 billion equity value. Valuation multiples are broadly in line with fee-based midstream peers, with the yield doing much of the work in the total-return case.

WMB. Reading a midstream C-corp like Williams is less about GAAP net income and more about contracted cash flow. Investors typically focus on adjusted EBITDA, available funds from operations (AFFO) or distributable cash flow, dividend coverage (AFFO comfortably exceeded the dividend in FY2025), and leverage measured as net debt to EBITDA. Because most EBITDA is fee-based, results are steadier than a producer's, and the headline EV/EBITDA multiple captures the market's view of that durability plus growth from expansions and power projects. As a C-corporation, Williams reports its payout on a 1099 dividend form rather than the K-1 that MLP-structured peers issue, which simplifies tax filing.

Headline figures (approximate, July 2026): HESM shows revenue (ttm) ~$1.55B, q1 2026 revenue ~$390M, 2026 adj. ebitda guidance ~$1.225B-$1.275B, 2026 net income guidance ~$650M-$700M; WMB shows adjusted ebitda (fy2025) ~$7.75 billion, up ~9% YoY, adjusted eps (fy2025) ~$2.10 per diluted share, available funds from operations (fy2025) ~$5.86 billion, 2026 adjusted ebitda guidance (midpoint) ~$8.2 billion.

HESM and WMB are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined HESM and WMB exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.