# How Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/epd
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on EPD alone. It places EPD (Enterprise Products Partners L.P.) against 18 popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where EPD stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: EPD's full trading record, from July 1998 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** Over the past 3 months, EPD fell 3.2% while the S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Its oil & gas midstream peers split over the past 3 months: TRGP (Targa Resources) rose 4.1%, while ENB (Enbridge) fell 12.9%.
- **Stock or market?:** EPD fell 3.2% over the past 3 months, in line with the oil & gas midstream ETF AMLP (Alerian MLP ETF), which fell 1.6%. The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Its oil & gas midstream peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: TRGP (Targa Resources) rose 4.1%, while ENB (Enbridge) fell 12.9%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** EPD has outpaced the market, rising 28.4% over the past year against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100.
- **Long term:** EPD turned $10,000 into $27,800 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500. On the flip side, the past 5 years have been the better stretch: EPD rose 113% against 81.7% for the S&P 500, after trailing over the decade.
- **In a crash:** In the Covid crash, EPD fell 53.2%, against 33.7% for the S&P 500. That was more than ENB (Enbridge, 43.4%) but less than WMB (Williams Companies, 57.0%). EPD fell further than the S&P 500 in two of the last three sell-offs, including the Covid crash (53.2% against 33.7%).
- **Diversification:** EPD moves far less with the S&P 500 than it used to, with a correlation of 0.42 over the past 5 years against 0.73 in the 5 years before. EPD is some diversification, but not a hedge: a correlation of 0.42 with the S&P 500 over 5 years and 0.43 with the total US market, more closely than 56% of stocks worth at least $300 million.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** MPLX earned more than EPD over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 23.5% a year at 18.8% volatility, against 16.4% a year at 17.1%.
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** CVX (Chevron, integrated oil & gas) and SHEL (Shell, integrated oil & gas) were ahead of EPD in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (25.2% and 24.8% volatility against 17.1%).
  - **Whole market:** Nothing in the whole market did better on both counts: none of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than EPD with less volatility over the past 5 years.

## How much would $10,000 in EPD have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in EPD over the past 28 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of EPD over the same span and EPD's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in EPD at the end of September 1998 would have grown to $513,562 by September 2026, more than the $121,630 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of EPD, and AAPL finished highest, at $11,681,338.

## EPD at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- EPD's deepest decline since it began trading in 1998 was 58.8%, from September 2014 to March 2020. It took 24 months from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 27 full calendar years, EPD's best was 2000, when it returned 86.1%, and its worst was 2008, when it lost 30.1%. It lost money in six of those years.
- EPD is 6.0% below its all-time high.

- Type: Stock, Energy (Oil & Gas Midstream)
- Trading since: July 28, 1998
- Market value: $80B
- Volatility (5 years): 17.1%; Sharpe ratio: 0.98
- Worst decline ever: −58.8%, from September 19, 2014 to March 18, 2020; back at its high by March 2, 2022

| Period | EPD total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | −3.9% |
| 3 months | −3.2% |
| 6 months | +3.2% |
| year to date | +20.3% |
| 1 year | +28.4% |
| 3 years | +65.2% |
| 5 years | +113% |
| 10 years | +178% |

## EPD against the whole market

Where EPD ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does EPD rank among all stocks?

This section ranks EPD on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- EPD is among the steadier stocks: its price swings rank in the top 1% of the 2,893 stocks worth at least $300 million, where the top is the calmest.

| Measure | EPD | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +28.4% | 1,015 of 3,287 (top 31%) |
| 3-year return | +65.2% | 1,328 of 3,017 (top 45%) |
| 5-year return | +113% | 613 of 2,893 (top 22%) |
| 10-year return | +178% | 959 of 2,202 (top 44%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 17.1% | 35 of 2,893 (top 2%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.98 | 111 of 2,893 (top 4%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −58.1% | 810 of 2,187 (top 38%) |

### What has beaten EPD on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- None of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than EPD over the past 5 years with less volatility: nothing sits in the green region.

### Is there a better investment than EPD?

The table below lists investments that beat EPD over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among EPD's popular alternatives, MPLX earned more than EPD over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 23.5% a year at 18.8% volatility, against 16.4% a year at 17.1%.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, CVX (integrated oil & gas) and SHEL (integrated oil & gas) were ahead of EPD in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (25.2% and 24.8% volatility against 17.1%).
- Nothing in the whole market did better on both counts: none of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than EPD with less volatility over the past 5 years.

## EPD against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against EPD, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do EPD's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- None of the 18 popular alternatives earned more than EPD over the past 5 years with smaller price swings, so every higher return on the map came with a bumpier ride.
- Over the past 5 years, EPD returned 16.4% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with lower volatility (17.1% against 17.1%).

### Has EPD consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares EPD with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- Eight of the 18 popular alternatives, led by VLO, TRGP and LNG, outperformed EPD in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.
- VLO, TRGP and LNG outperformed EPD in every long-term period and in all but one short-term period, the most consistent record in the group.
- DTM earned more for the risk it took than EPD (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in its worst decline of the past 10 years.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of EPD | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| EPD: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (this page) | +28.4% | +65.2% | +113% | +178% |  |  | 0.98 |
| [VLO](https://easycompare.io/research/vlo): Valero Energy Corporation | +176% | +259% | +524% | +1,061% | 5/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 1.18 |
| [TRGP](https://easycompare.io/research/trgp): Targa Resources Corp. | +98.1% | +260% | +473% | +829% | 5/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 1.27 |
| [LNG](https://easycompare.io/research/lng): Cheniere Energy, Inc. | +29.3% | +69.8% | +186% | +616% | 5/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 0.85 |
| [MPLX](https://easycompare.io/research/mplx): MPLX Lp | +27.2% | +105% | +187% | +350% | 3/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | consistent | 1.22 |
| PAA: Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. | +70.2% | +105% | +230% | +64.0% | 5/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 1.06 |
| PAGP: Plains GP Holdings LP | +73.6% | +113% | +228% | +56.3% | 5/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 1.05 |
| [KMI](https://easycompare.io/research/kmi): Kinder Morgan, Inc. | +26.9% | +129% | +136% | +163% | 4/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.88 |
| NGL: NGL Energy Partners LP | +146% | +270% | +449% | +37.4% | 4/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.88 |
| [WMB](https://easycompare.io/research/wmb): The Williams Companies, Inc. | +14.9% | +125% | +200% | +288% | 1/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.04 |
| WES: Western Midstream Partners, LP | +27.6% | +110% | +187% | +128% | 2/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.91 |
| DTM: DT Midstream, Inc. | +14.4% | +147% | +199% | — | 1/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 1.00 |
| [OKE](https://easycompare.io/research/oke): ONEOK, Inc. | +42.8% | +59.9% | +86.8% | +233% | 5/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.59 |
| [TRP](https://easycompare.io/research/trp): TC Energy Corporation | +24.9% | +136% | +66.7% | +160% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.58 |
| [ENB](https://easycompare.io/research/enb): Enbridge Inc. | +8.5% | +84.0% | +54.3% | +103% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.56 |
| [EOG](https://easycompare.io/research/eog): EOG Resources, Inc. | +53.1% | +31.9% | +115% | +131% | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.64 |
| DOW: Dow Inc. | +48.8% | −25.6% | −32.7% | — | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.06 |
| GEL: Genesis Energy, L.P. | −4.9% | +44.2% | +65.5% | −21.8% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.45 |
| HESM: Hess Midstream LP | +0.8% | +27.1% | +67.9% | — | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.52 |

### How did EPD do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 1999, along with where EPD ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- EPD finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 16 of its 27 full calendar years.
- Among its popular alternatives, MPLX came out ahead of EPD most often, in nine of the 13 years both traded.
- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, EPD finished in the top quarter in six of 27 years and in the bottom quarter in four. In 2025, it ranked 12 of 19.

| Year | EPD | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +9.4% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +28.0% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +17.7% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | +18.3% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +21.4% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | −23.6% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +21.9% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −1.4% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +4.3% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +12.5% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How EPD has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were EPD's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of EPD's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: EPD fell 58.8% from September 2014 to March 2020, while the S&P 500 rose 32.7%.
- The slowest recovery came after EPD fell 58.8% from September 2014 to March 2020; it did not regain that peak until March 2022, two years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −58.8% | September 19, 2014 | March 18, 2020 | March 2, 2022 | +32.7% | 2015 China and oil sell-off |
| −44.4% | May 7, 2008 | November 21, 2008 | September 16, 2009 | −42.4% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −34.6% | February 27, 2002 | June 28, 2002 | May 12, 2003 | −10.8% | dot-com bust |
| −33.3% | July 29, 1998 | December 18, 1998 | August 25, 1999 | +6.0% |  |
| −18.0% | June 7, 2022 | September 26, 2022 | April 14, 2023 | −11.6% | 2022 bear market |

### How did EPD do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far EPD, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- EPD fell less than the S&P 500 in eight of the ten crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the dot-com bust, when EPD fell 34.6% and the S&P 500 fell 47.5%.
- Among its popular alternatives, ENB held up best, falling less than EPD in six of the ten crashes they both traded through.

| Crash | Dates | EPD fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | −34.6% | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −44.4% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | 0.0% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −13.0% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −31.3% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −4.1% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −18.6% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −53.2% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −18.0% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −2.4% | −3.4% |

### How closely does EPD move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- LNG took just 30% of the S&P 500's losses, against 94% for EPD, while still keeping 79% of its gains.
- Over the past 10 years, EPD captured 81% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 94% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 0.93. Its share of the market's losses was larger than its share of the gains.
- Six of the 15 popular alternatives had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than EPD's 0.86, led by LNG, VLO and MPLX.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| EPD: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (this page) | 81.0% | 94.0% | 0.93 |
| [VLO](https://easycompare.io/research/vlo): Valero Energy Corporation | 142% | 114% | 1.31 |
| [TRGP](https://easycompare.io/research/trgp): Targa Resources Corp. | 156% | 157% | 1.85 |
| [LNG](https://easycompare.io/research/lng): Cheniere Energy, Inc. | 79.0% | 30.0% | 0.77 |
| [MPLX](https://easycompare.io/research/mplx): MPLX Lp | 87.0% | 76.0% | 1.16 |
| PAA: Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. | 81.0% | 127% | 1.36 |
| PAGP: Plains GP Holdings LP | 77.0% | 123% | 1.29 |
| [KMI](https://easycompare.io/research/kmi): Kinder Morgan, Inc. | 68.0% | 82.0% | 0.82 |
| NGL: NGL Energy Partners LP | 111% | 193% | 1.73 |
| [WMB](https://easycompare.io/research/wmb): The Williams Companies, Inc. | 85.0% | 78.0% | 1.02 |
| WES: Western Midstream Partners, LP | 121% | 175% | 2.23 |
| [OKE](https://easycompare.io/research/oke): ONEOK, Inc. | 103% | 126% | 1.38 |
| [TRP](https://easycompare.io/research/trp): TC Energy Corporation | 67.0% | 73.0% | 0.72 |
| [ENB](https://easycompare.io/research/enb): Enbridge Inc. | 60.0% | 74.0% | 0.73 |
| [EOG](https://easycompare.io/research/eog): EOG Resources, Inc. | 92.0% | 135% | 1.17 |
| GEL: Genesis Energy, L.P. | 81.0% | 176% | 1.65 |

### What diversifies EPD?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in EPD into GLD would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 17% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+18.6% for EPD alone, +19.1% for the mix).
- Among large ETFs, DXJ, SMH and DBEF have moved largely independently of EPD over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.44 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- FIX made money in four of the six calendar years in which EPD lost money.

| Investment | Correlation with EPD | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in EPD's 6 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.32 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 2 of 6 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.08 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 2 of 6 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.44 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 2 of 6 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.05 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 3 of 6 |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | 0.25 | +136% | 20.8% | 0.93 | 1 of 6 |
| VLUE: iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF | 0.42 | +109% | 18.4% | 0.90 | 0 of 6 |
| EWT: iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF | 0.07 | +153% | 24.2% | 0.89 | 2 of 6 |
| EUFN: iShares MSCI Europe Financials ETF | 0.33 | +133% | 21.8% | 0.89 | 0 of 6 |

## Common questions

### What was EPD's worst drawdown?

EPD's deepest decline since it began trading in 1998 was 58.8%, from September 2014 to March 2020. It took 24 months from the low to climb back to its old high.

### What were EPD's best and worst years?

Over 27 full calendar years, EPD's best year was 2000, when it returned 86.1%. Its worst was 2008, with a return of -30.1%.

### Is there a better investment than EPD?

Among EPD's popular alternatives, MPLX earned more than EPD over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 23.5% a year at 18.8% volatility, against 16.4% a year at 17.1%. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, CVX (integrated oil & gas) and SHEL (integrated oil & gas) were ahead of EPD in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (25.2% and 24.8% volatility against 17.1%).

### Is EPD more volatile than the S&P 500?

No. EPD's volatility over the past 5 years was 17.1%, 1.0 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, EPD's return lands within 17.1% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is EPD's Sharpe ratio?

EPD's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.98, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so EPD earned more for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is EPD with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, EPD's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.42 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They often move together: some diversification next to an index fund, but not a cushion. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against EPD instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a EPD holding.

### What are the best alternatives to EPD?

Of the 18 popular alternatives we compared, eight outperformed EPD in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: VLO, TRGP and LNG.

### Did EPD outperform the S&P 500?

EPD finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 16 of 27 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +9.4%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did EPD do in stock market crashes?

EPD fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in eight of the ten major crashes it has traded through, and further in two. The clearest case was the dot-com bust, when EPD fell 34.6% and the S&P 500 fell 47.5%.

### What diversifies EPD?

These had a low correlation with EPD over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, DXJ (correlation 0.32), SMH (correlation 0.08) and DBEF (correlation 0.44); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.31), CLS (correlation 0.20) and FIX (correlation 0.29). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

- [Valero Energy (VLO) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/vlo)
- [Targa Resources (TRGP) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/trgp)
- [Cheniere Energy (LNG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/lng)
- [MPLX Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/mplx)
- [Kinder Morgan (KMI) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/kmi)
- [Williams Companies (WMB) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/wmb)
- [ONEOK (OKE) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/oke)
- [TC Energy (TRP) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/trp)
- [Enbridge (ENB) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/enb)
- [EOG Resources (EOG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/eog)
- [Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/schd)
- [NVIDIA (NVDA) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/epd
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against EPD live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=EPD&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research