Cenovus Energy (CVE) Competitors

Cenovus Energy (TSE:CVE) and Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ) are both large-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, dividends, valuation, media sentiment, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Is CVE or CNQ a better dividend stock?

Cenovus Energy pays an annual dividend of C$0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Canadian Natural Resources pays an annual dividend of C$2.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Cenovus Energy pays out 35.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Canadian Natural Resources pays out 59.4% 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.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in CVE or CNQ?

54.2% of Cenovus Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.8% of Canadian Natural Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 32.0% of Cenovus Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of Canadian Natural Resources shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, CVE or CNQ?

Canadian Natural Resources has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Cenovus Energy. Cenovus 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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cenovus Energy	C$54.87B	0.61	C$3.69B	C$2.03	9.12
Canadian Natural Resources	C$35.38B	2.54	C$7.52B	C$3.60	11.87

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CVE or CNQ?

Canadian Natural Resources received 54 more outperform votes than Cenovus Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 58.68% of users gave Cenovus Energy an outperform vote while only 58.50% of users gave Canadian Natural Resources an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Cenovus Energy	Outperform Votes 710 58.68%	Underperform Votes 500 41.32%
Canadian Natural Resources	Outperform Votes 764 58.50%	Underperform Votes 542 41.50%

Do analysts prefer CVE or CNQ?

Cenovus Energy presently has a consensus target price of C$28.15, indicating a potential upside of 52.16%. Canadian Natural Resources has a consensus target price of C$54.25, indicating a potential upside of 26.84%. Given Cenovus Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Cenovus Energy is more favorable than Canadian Natural Resources.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cenovus Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82
Canadian Natural Resources	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71

Does the media refer more to CVE or CNQ?

In the previous week, Cenovus Energy had 4 more articles in the media than Canadian Natural Resources. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Cenovus Energy and 3 mentions for Canadian Natural Resources. Canadian Natural Resources' average media sentiment score of 1.09 beat Cenovus Energy's score of 0.61 indicating that Canadian Natural Resources is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cenovus Energy	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Canadian Natural Resources	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CVE or CNQ more profitable?

Canadian Natural Resources has a net margin of 21.25% compared to Cenovus Energy's net margin of 6.72%. Canadian Natural Resources' return on equity of 19.14% beat Cenovus Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cenovus Energy	6.72%	12.67%	7.58%
Canadian Natural Resources	21.25%	19.14%	8.80%

Which has more volatility and risk, CVE or CNQ?

Cenovus Energy has a beta of 2.63, indicating that its share price is 163% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Canadian Natural Resources has a beta of 1.89, indicating that its share price is 89% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Canadian Natural Resources beats Cenovus Energy on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.