Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) & SandRidge Energy (NYSE:SD) Head to Head Analysis

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) and SandRidge Energy (NYSE:SD) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Canadian Natural Resources and SandRidge Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Canadian Natural Resources	0	4	6	1	2.73
SandRidge Energy	0	3	0	0	2.00

Canadian Natural Resources presently has a consensus target price of $57.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.67%. Given Canadian Natural Resources’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Canadian Natural Resources is more favorable than SandRidge Energy.

Dividends

Canadian Natural Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. SandRidge Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Canadian Natural Resources pays out 44.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SandRidge Energy pays out 23.2% 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. Canadian Natural Resources has raised its dividend for 24 consecutive years and SandRidge Energy has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. SandRidge Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk & Volatility

Canadian Natural Resources has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SandRidge Energy has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Canadian Natural Resources and SandRidge Energy”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Canadian Natural Resources	$31.61 billion	3.51	$7.74 billion	$4.05	13.32
SandRidge Energy	$156.36 million	3.37	$70.20 million	$2.24	6.35

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

Profitability

This table compares Canadian Natural Resources and SandRidge Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Canadian Natural Resources	22.78%	23.91%	11.45%
SandRidge Energy	46.06%	13.62%	10.93%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

74.0% of Canadian Natural Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.8% of SandRidge Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.0% of Canadian Natural Resources shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of SandRidge Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Canadian Natural Resources beats SandRidge Energy on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Canadian Natural Resources

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO). The company’s midstream assets include two pipeline systems; and a 50% working interest in an 84-megawatt cogeneration plant at Primrose. It operates primarily in Western Canada; the United Kingdom portion of the North Sea; and Offshore Africa. The company was formerly known as AEX Minerals Corporation and changed its name to Canadian Natural Resources Limited in December 1975. Canadian Natural Resources Limited was incorporated in 1973 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About SandRidge Energy

SandRidge Energy, Inc. engages in the acquisition, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States Mid-Continent. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.