Reviewing California Resources (NYSE:CRC) & VAALCO Energy (NYSE:EGY)

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) and VAALCO Energy (NYSE:EGY) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

California Resources has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, VAALCO Energy has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares California Resources and VAALCO Energy”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
California Resources	$3.31 billion	1.15	$564.00 million	$5.51	7.74
VAALCO Energy	$489.16 million	0.70	$60.35 million	$0.55	5.95

California Resources has higher revenue and earnings than VAALCO Energy. VAALCO Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than California Resources, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

California Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. VAALCO Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.6%. California Resources pays out 28.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. VAALCO Energy pays out 45.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. California Resources has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares California Resources and VAALCO Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
California Resources	17.43%	12.16%	6.15%
VAALCO Energy	17.93%	15.63%	8.72%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.8% of California Resources shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.3% of VAALCO Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of California Resources shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of VAALCO Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for California Resources and VAALCO Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
California Resources	0	3	8	2	2.92
VAALCO Energy	0	0	1	0	3.00

California Resources presently has a consensus target price of $60.36, suggesting a potential upside of 41.57%. VAALCO Energy has a consensus target price of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 144.27%. Given VAALCO Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe VAALCO Energy is more favorable than California Resources.

Summary

California Resources beats VAALCO Energy on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About California Resources

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production, and carbon management company in the United States. The company explores, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities. It also engages in the generation and sale of electricity to the wholesale power market and utility sector; and developing various carbon capture and storage projects in California. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Long Beach, California.

About VAALCO Energy

VAALCO Energy, Inc., an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in Gabon, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, and Canada. The company holds 58.8% interest in the Etame production sharing contract related to the Etame Marin block covering an area of approximately 46,200 gross acres located offshore in the Republic of Gabon in West Africa. It also owns 100% interest in the Eastern Desert, which contains West Gharib, West Bakr and North West Gharib merged concessions covering as area of approximately 45,067 acres, as well as Western Desert, which contains the South Ghazalat concession covering as area of approximately 7,340 acres located in Egypt. In addition, the company production and working interests in Cardium light oil and Mannville liquids-rich gas assets covering as area of 47,400 gross acres located near the north of Calgary, Alberta; and an undeveloped block offshore Equatorial Guinea, West Africa. VAALCO Energy, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.