Sifting through countless of stocks in the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in SM Energy Company or Hess Midstream LP because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how SM Energy Company and Hess Midstream LP compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About SM Energy Company and Hess Midstream LP

SM Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company holds working interests in oil and gas producing wells in the Midland Basin, South Texas, Uinta Basin, and DJ Basin. The company was formerly known as St. Mary Land & Exploration Company and changed its name to SM Energy Company in May 2010. SM Energy Company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Hess Midstream LP acquires, owns, operates, and develops midstream assets and provide fee-based services to sponsor, its subsidiaries, and third-party customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Gathering; Processing and Storage; and Terminaling and Export. The Gathering segment owns natural gas gathering and compression systems; crude oil gathering systems; and produced water gathering and disposal facilities. Its gathering system consists of approximately 1,430 miles of high- and low-pressure natural gas and natural gas liquids gathering pipelines with capacity of approximately 685 million cubic feet per day; crude oil gathering system comprises approximately 615 miles of crude oil gathering pipelines; and produces water gathering system that includes approximately 360 miles of pipelines in gathering systems. The Processing and Storage segment comprises Tioga Gas Plant, a natural gas processing and fractionation plant located in Tioga, North Dakota; Mentor Storage Terminal, a propane storage cavern and rail, and truck loading and unloading facility located in Mentor, Minnesota; and Terminaling and Export segment that owns Ramberg terminal facility, the Tioga rail terminal, crude oil rail cars, and other Dakota access pipeline connections, as well as Johnson’s Corner Header System, a crude oil pipeline header system; and other DAPL connections. Hess Midstream LP was formerly known as Hess Midstream Partners LP and changed its name to Hess Midstream LP in December 2019. Hess Midstream LP was founded in 2014 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Latest Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels and SM Energy Company, Hess Midstream LP Stock News

As of May 20, 2026, SM Energy Company had a $8.3 billion market capitalization, compared to the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels median of $2.7 million. SM Energy Company’s stock is up 76.9% in 2026, up 5.5% in the previous five trading days and up 45.53% in the past year.

Currently, SM Energy Company’s price-earnings ratio is 36.1. SM Energy Company’s trailing 12-month revenue is $3.6 billion with a 3.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 73.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $7.490 per share for the current fiscal year. SM Energy Company currently has a 2.5% dividend yield.

As of May 20, 2026, Hess Midstream LP had a $5.1 billion market cap, putting it in the 68th percentile of all stocks. Hess Midstream LP’s stock is up 15.5% in 2026, up 1.6% in the previous five trading days and up 5.37% in the past year.

Currently, Hess Midstream LP’s price-earnings ratio is 13.9. Hess Midstream LP’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.6 billion with a 22.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 2.1%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.777 per share for the current fiscal year. Hess Midstream LP currently has a 7.8% dividend yield.

How We Compare SM Energy Company and Hess Midstream LP Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at SM Energy Company and Hess Midstream LP’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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SM Energy Company and Hess Midstream LP Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
SM Energy Company	SM	C
Hess Midstream LP	HESM	C

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

SM Energy Company has a Value Score of 52, which is Average. Hess Midstream LP has a Value Score of 44, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither SM Energy Company or Hess Midstream LP has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if SM Energy Company or Hess Midstream LP is the better investment when it comes to value.

SM Energy Company and Hess Midstream LP Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
SM Energy Company	SM	C
Hess Midstream LP	HESM	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

SM Energy Company has a Growth Score of 60, which is Average. Hess Midstream LP has a Growth Score of 100, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: Hess Midstream LP

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Hess Midstream LP has a more attractive growth grade than SM Energy Company. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Hess Midstream LP could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

SM Energy Company and Hess Midstream LP’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
SM Energy Company	SM	B
Hess Midstream LP	HESM	D

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

SM Energy Company has a Earnings Estimate Score of 67, which is Positive. Hess Midstream LP has a Earnings Estimate Score of 31, which is Negative.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: SM Energy Company

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, SM Energy Company has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Hess Midstream LP. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, SM Energy Company could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other SM Energy Company and Hess Midstream LP Grades

In addition to Growth, Estimate Revisions and Value, A+ Investor also provides grades for Momentum and Quality.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether SM Energy Company and Hess Midstream LP pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, SM Energy Company or Hess Midstream LP Stock?

Overall, SM Energy Company stock has a Value Score of 52, Growth Score of 60 and Estimate Revisions Score of 67.

Hess Midstream LP stock has a Value Score of 44, Growth Score of 100 and Estimate Revisions Score of 31.

Comparing SM Energy Company and Hess Midstream LP’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.