Comparing Shell (NYSE:SHEL) & SunocoCorp (NYSE:SUNC)

SunocoCorp (NYSE:SUNC) and Shell (NYSE:SHEL) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

28.6% of Shell shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Shell shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

SunocoCorp pays an annual dividend of $4.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Shell pays an annual dividend of $3.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. SunocoCorp pays out 138.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Shell pays out 34.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares SunocoCorp and Shell’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SunocoCorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
Shell	8.55%	14.34%	6.74%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SunocoCorp and Shell”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SunocoCorp	$25.20 billion	0.16	-$5.00 million	$2.89	27.21
Shell	$273.73 billion	0.96	$17.84 billion	$9.06	10.34

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for SunocoCorp and Shell, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SunocoCorp	1	1	3	1	2.67
Shell	0	12	6	0	2.33

SunocoCorp currently has a consensus target price of $81.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.01%. Shell has a consensus target price of $106.77, suggesting a potential upside of 14.02%. Given Shell’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Shell is more favorable than SunocoCorp.

Summary

Shell beats SunocoCorp on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SunocoCorp

Sunoco LP is an energy infrastructure and fuel distribution master limited partnership. Sunoco LP is based in DALLAS.

About Shell

Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and Rest of the Americas. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure to deliver gas to market. The company also markets and trades natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude oil, electricity, carbon-emission rights; and markets and sells LNG as a fuel for heavy-duty vehicles. In addition, it trades in and refines crude oil and other feed stocks, such as low-carbon fuels, lubricants, bitumen, sulphur, gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and marine fuel; produces and sells petrochemicals for industrial use; and manages oil sands activities. Further, the company produces base chemicals comprising ethylene, propylene, and aromatics, as well as intermediate chemicals, such as styrene monomer, propylene oxide, solvents, detergent alcohols, ethylene oxide, and ethylene glycol. Additionally, it generates electricity through wind and solar resources; produces and sells hydrogen; and provides electric vehicle charging services. The company was formerly known as Royal Dutch Shell plc and changed its name to Shell plc in January 2022. Shell plc was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.