Contrasting Chord Energy (NASDAQ:CHRD) & Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY)

Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) and Chord Energy (NASDAQ:CHRD) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Magnolia Oil & Gas and Chord Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Magnolia Oil & Gas	$1.31 billion	4.34	$325.25 million	$2.28	10.54
Chord Energy	$4.88 billion	1.52	$44.46 million	$14.92	9.11

Magnolia Oil & Gas has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Chord Energy. Chord Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Magnolia Oil & Gas, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Magnolia Oil & Gas and Chord Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Magnolia Oil & Gas	0	6	10	2	2.78
Chord Energy	0	6	10	1	2.71

Magnolia Oil & Gas presently has a consensus target price of $31.79, suggesting a potential upside of 32.24%. Chord Energy has a consensus target price of $165.54, suggesting a potential upside of 21.82%. Given Magnolia Oil & Gas’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Magnolia Oil & Gas is more favorable than Chord Energy.

Dividends

Magnolia Oil & Gas pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Chord Energy pays an annual dividend of $5.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Magnolia Oil & Gas pays out 31.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chord Energy pays out 34.9% 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. Magnolia Oil & Gas has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Chord Energy has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Risk and Volatility

Magnolia Oil & Gas has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chord Energy has a beta of 0.5, indicating that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.7% of Magnolia Oil & Gas shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.8% of Chord Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Magnolia Oil & Gas shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Chord Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Magnolia Oil & Gas and Chord Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Magnolia Oil & Gas	28.77%	21.04%	14.46%
Chord Energy	13.42%	10.18%	6.24%

Summary

Magnolia Oil & Gas beats Chord Energy on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Magnolia Oil & Gas

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp. engages in the acquisition, development, exploration, and production of oil and natural gas properties. It operates assets located in the Eagle Ford Shale and Austin Chalk formations in South Texas. The company was founded on February 14, 2017 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

About Chord Energy

Chord Energy Corporation operates as an independent exploration and production company in the United States. It acquires, explores, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the Williston Basin. The company sells its products to refiners, marketers, and other purchasers that have access to nearby pipeline and rail facilities. The company was formerly known as Oasis Petroleum Inc. and changed its name to Chord Energy Corporation in July 2022. Chord Energy Corporation was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.