Exxon Mobil (XOM) Competitors

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) are both large-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Is XOM or FANG more profitable?

Diamondback Energy has a net margin of 30.84% compared to Exxon Mobil's net margin of 9.49%. Exxon Mobil's return on equity of 12.06% beat Diamondback Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Exxon Mobil	9.49%	12.06%	7.21%
Diamondback Energy	30.84%	11.22%	6.53%

Do analysts rate XOM or FANG?

Exxon Mobil currently has a consensus target price of $125.42, indicating a potential upside of 16.27%. Diamondback Energy has a consensus target price of $191.55, indicating a potential upside of 35.49%. Given Diamondback Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Diamondback Energy is more favorable than Exxon Mobil.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Exxon Mobil	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.55
Diamondback Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	18 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.05

Which has better earnings and valuation, XOM or FANG?

Exxon Mobil has higher revenue and earnings than Diamondback Energy. Diamondback Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Exxon Mobil, 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
Exxon Mobil	$349.59B	1.33	$33.68B	$7.54	14.31
Diamondback Energy	$11.07B	3.73	$3.34B	$16.35	8.65

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of XOM or FANG?

61.8% of Exxon Mobil shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.0% of Diamondback Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Exxon Mobil shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Diamondback Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, XOM or FANG?

Exxon Mobil has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Diamondback Energy has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to XOM or FANG?

In the previous week, Exxon Mobil had 75 more articles in the media than Diamondback Energy. MarketBeat recorded 111 mentions for Exxon Mobil and 36 mentions for Diamondback Energy. Diamondback Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.23 beat Exxon Mobil's score of 1.22 indicating that Diamondback Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Exxon Mobil	90 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Diamondback Energy	23 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is XOM or FANG a better dividend stock?

Exxon Mobil pays an annual dividend of $3.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Diamondback Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Exxon Mobil pays out 52.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Diamondback Energy pays out 24.5% 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. Exxon Mobil has raised its dividend for 42 consecutive years and Diamondback Energy has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years. Exxon Mobil is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Diamondback Energy beats Exxon Mobil on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.