YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF – Get Free Report) and W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI – Get Free Report) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.
Volatility and Risk
YPF Sociedad Anónima has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W&T Offshore has a beta of 0.28, suggesting that its share price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares YPF Sociedad Anónima and W&T Offshore’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| YPF Sociedad Anónima | 3.60% | 10.86% | 4.20% |
| W&T Offshore | -19.32% | N/A | -2.59% |
Earnings and Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| YPF Sociedad Anónima | $18.45 billion | 1.17 | -$826.00 million | $1.90 | 28.85 |
| W&T Offshore | $501.46 million | 1.22 | -$150.06 million | ($0.73) | -5.57 |
W&T Offshore has lower revenue, but higher earnings than YPF Sociedad Anónima. W&T Offshore is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than YPF Sociedad Anónima, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for YPF Sociedad Anónima and W&T Offshore, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| YPF Sociedad Anónima | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.50 |
| W&T Offshore | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
YPF Sociedad Anónima currently has a consensus price target of $60.33, indicating a potential upside of 10.07%. W&T Offshore has a consensus price target of $4.25, indicating a potential upside of 4.55%. Given YPF Sociedad Anónima’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe YPF Sociedad Anónima is more favorable than W&T Offshore.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
10.1% of YPF Sociedad Anónima shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.9% of W&T Offshore shares are owned by institutional investors. 35.9% of W&T Offshore shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
YPF Sociedad Anónima beats W&T Offshore on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About YPF Sociedad Anónima
YPF Sociedad Anónima, an energy company, engages in the oil and gas upstream and downstream activities in Argentina. Its upstream operations include the exploration, exploitation, and production of crude oil, and natural gas. The company’s downstream operations include petrochemical production and crude oil refining; transportation and distribution refined and petrochemical products; commercialization of crude oil, petrochemical products, and specialties. Its gas and power operations include transportation, commercialization, and distribution of natural gas; operation of regasification terminals; conditioning, processing, and separation of natural gas; and power generation. The company had interests in oil and gas fields. It also had a retail distribution network and retail service stations. In addition, the company owns and operates refineries, as well as maintains terminal facilities Argentine ports. Further, it participates in power generation plants; offers diesel, fertilizers, lubricants, phytosanitary products, and ensiling bags; and supplies diesel, gasoline, fuel oil, coal, asphalts, paraffin, and sulfur, CO2, decanted oil, and aromatic extract. The company was incorporated in 1977 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
About W&T Offshore
W&T Offshore, Inc. engages in the production, exploration, development, and acquisition of oil and natural gas properties. It focuses its operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The company was founded by Tracy W. Krohn in 1983 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.
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