In the spirit of World Cup competition, we're holding our own tournament in search of the Better Stock Today. We're pitting 32 companies against each other and you, the reader, will determine the winner.
Kinder Morgan Partners takes on Berkshire Hathaway in this last round-robin match up in our search for the better stock today.
Joel South, energy analyst at The Motley Fool, thinks Kinder Morgan Partners (NYSE: KMP) is the better investment because the firm is the premier midstream MLP in the world. Kinder Morgan Partners offer a substantial 7.1% distribution yield, but more importantly, the large pipeline operator continues to grow its payments by maintaining strict capital discipline and structuring its contracts so 93% of all revenue is absent commodity risk. With $641 billion expected to be spent in the North American midstream market in the next 20 years, Kinder Morgan Partners could outperform the broad market year in and year out.
Financials analyst David Hanson believes the number one reason Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A -0.30%) (BRK.B -0.26%) should win this match is the company's unmatched reinvestment opportunities. Berkshire has its hands in multiples areas of the economy, from energy to railroads, and it can choose to reinvest its hefty profits in any of these businesses. That by itself would be impressive, but the company still has the world's greatest long-term investor, Warren Buffett, making these decisions. Buffett isn't young at 83 years old, but he appears to be getting savvier by the year, and is currently sitting on as much capital as he's ever had available to him. The next 5 years at Berkshire Hathaway look incredibly bright.
Vote here to determine the winner of this match and sound off in the comments. Check back to Fool.com to see who advances in the tournament.
