Analyzing Noble (NYSE:NE) & Royal Vopak (OTCMKTS:VOPKY)

Royal Vopak (OTCMKTS:VOPKY) and Noble (NYSE:NE) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Royal Vopak has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Noble has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

68.1% of Noble shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Noble shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Royal Vopak pays an annual dividend of $1.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Noble pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Royal Vopak pays out 24.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Noble pays out 148.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares Royal Vopak and Noble’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Royal Vopak	46.75%	13.25%	6.14%
Noble	6.60%	2.34%	1.40%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Royal Vopak and Noble, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Royal Vopak	0	0	0	0	0.00
Noble	1	10	1	0	2.00

Noble has a consensus price target of $38.63, suggesting a potential downside of 14.77%. Given Noble’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Noble is more favorable than Royal Vopak.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Royal Vopak and Noble”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Royal Vopak	$1.47 billion	4.13	$683.21 million	$5.93	8.87
Noble	$3.29 billion	2.20	$216.72 million	$1.35	33.57

Royal Vopak has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Noble. Royal Vopak is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Noble, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Noble beats Royal Vopak on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Royal Vopak

Koninklijke Vopak N.V., an independent tank storage company, stores and handles liquid chemicals, gases, and oil products to the energy and manufacturing markets worldwide. The company operates LPG and chemical gas, industrial, chemical, and oil terminals; and owns and operates specialized facilities consisting of tanks, jetties, truck loading stations, and pipelines. It stores and handles chemicals, such as methanol, xylenes, styrene, alpha olefins, and mono-ethylene glycol; gas, including LNG, LPG, ethylene, butadiene, and ammonia; oil products consisting of crude oil, fuel oil, diesel, jet fuel, gasoline, and naphtha; and vegoils and biofuels comprising ethanol, biodiesel, and sustainable aviation fuel. In addition, the company is involved in the development of infrastructure solutions within ports for low-carbon and renewable hydrogen, CO2, long-duration energy storage, and sustainable fuels and feedstocks. Further, it operates 76 terminals in 23 countries with a storage capacity of 35.2 million cubic meters. It serves producers, manufacturers, distributors, governments, traders, and chemical and energy companies. The company was founded in 1616 and is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

About Noble

Noble Corp. Plc engages in the provision offshore drilling services for oil and gas industry. It focuses on a balanced fleet of floating and jackup rigs and the deployment of drilling rigs in oil and gas basins around the world. The company was founded by Lloyd Noble and Art Olson in 1921 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.