Hess (HES) Competitors

Hess (NYSE:HES) and Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) are both large-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, community ranking, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and dividends.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer HES or VLO?

Valero Energy received 236 more outperform votes than Hess when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.21% of users gave Valero Energy an outperform vote while only 62.39% of users gave Hess an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Hess	Outperform Votes 768 62.39%	Underperform Votes 463 37.61%
Valero Energy	Outperform Votes 1004 71.21%	Underperform Votes 406 28.79%

Is HES or VLO a better dividend stock?

Hess pays an annual dividend of $1.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Valero Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Hess pays out 33.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Valero Energy pays out 13.9% 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. Valero Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts rate HES or VLO?

Hess currently has a consensus target price of $173.06, indicating a potential upside of 29.75%. Valero Energy has a consensus target price of $153.64, indicating a potential upside of 25.71%. Given Hess' higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Hess is more favorable than Valero Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hess	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Valero Energy	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71

Which has better earnings and valuation, HES or VLO?

Valero Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Hess. Valero Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hess, 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
Hess	$10.43B	3.90	$2.10B	$5.19	25.55
Valero Energy	$151.10B	0.28	$11.53B	$29.33	4.17

Is HES or VLO more profitable?

Hess has a net margin of 14.94% compared to Valero Energy's net margin of 7.11%. Valero Energy's return on equity of 39.97% beat Hess' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hess	14.94%	18.06%	7.18%
Valero Energy	7.11%	39.97%	17.72%

Which has more volatility and risk, HES or VLO?

Hess has a beta of 1.45, suggesting that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Valero Energy has a beta of 1.51, suggesting that its share price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of HES or VLO?

81.7% of Hess shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.1% of Valero Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 9.9% of Hess shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Valero Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor HES or VLO?

In the previous week, Hess had 26 more articles in the media than Valero Energy. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for Hess and 5 mentions for Valero Energy. Valero Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.64 beat Hess' score of 0.29 indicating that Valero Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hess	6 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Valero Energy	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

Valero Energy beats Hess on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.