ConocoPhillips (COP) Competitors

APA (NASDAQ:APA) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, institutional ownership and valuation.

Does the media favor APA or COP?

In the previous week, ConocoPhillips had 26 more articles in the media than APA. MarketBeat recorded 58 mentions for ConocoPhillips and 32 mentions for APA. ConocoPhillips' average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat APA's score of 0.47 indicating that ConocoPhillips is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
APA	10 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
ConocoPhillips	40 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer APA or COP?

APA presently has a consensus target price of $23.44, indicating a potential upside of 24.54%. ConocoPhillips has a consensus target price of $120.94, indicating a potential upside of 31.82%. Given ConocoPhillips' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe ConocoPhillips is more favorable than APA.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
APA	3 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
ConocoPhillips	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Is APA or COP a better dividend stock?

APA pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. ConocoPhillips pays an annual dividend of $3.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. APA pays out 36.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ConocoPhillips pays out 39.6% 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. APA is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of APA or COP?

83.0% of APA shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.4% of ConocoPhillips shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of APA shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of ConocoPhillips shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, APA or COP?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
APA	$9.74B	0.70	$804M	$2.78	6.77
ConocoPhillips	$56.95B	2.04	$9.25B	$7.87	11.66

Which has more volatility & risk, APA or COP?

APA has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ConocoPhillips has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is APA or COP more profitable?

ConocoPhillips has a net margin of 16.02% compared to APA's net margin of 9.75%. APA's return on equity of 23.22% beat ConocoPhillips' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
APA	9.75%	23.22%	7.63%
ConocoPhillips	16.02%	16.54%	8.64%

Summary

ConocoPhillips beats APA on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.