Penn Virginia (NASDAQ:PVAC) and Talos Energy (NYSE:TALO) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
73.4% of Penn Virginia shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.7% of Talos Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Penn Virginia shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Talos Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations for Penn Virginia and Talos Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Penn Virginia | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.67 |
Talos Energy | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3.00 |
Penn Virginia currently has a consensus price target of $11.50, suggesting a potential downside of 21.98%. Talos Energy has a consensus price target of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 37.61%. Given Talos Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Talos Energy is more favorable than Penn Virginia.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Penn Virginia and Talos Energy's top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Penn Virginia | $471.22 million | 0.48 | $70.59 million | $8.97 | 1.64 |
Talos Energy | $927.62 million | 0.96 | $58.73 million | $3.56 | 3.06 |
Penn Virginia has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Talos Energy. Penn Virginia is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Talos Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Penn Virginia and Talos Energy's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Penn Virginia | -52.13% | 19.99% | 8.61% |
Talos Energy | -5.36% | 1.20% | 0.50% |
Volatility & Risk
Penn Virginia has a beta of 3.64, suggesting that its share price is 264% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Talos Energy has a beta of 3.15, suggesting that its share price is 215% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Talos Energy beats Penn Virginia on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.