Critical Contrast: Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) and Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE)

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) and Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) are both energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Ovintiv has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Excelerate Energy has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Ovintiv pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Excelerate Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ovintiv pays out 33.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Excelerate Energy pays out 24.8% 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. Ovintiv has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Excelerate Energy has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Ovintiv is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Ovintiv and Excelerate Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ovintiv	0	3	19	1	2.91
Excelerate Energy	0	5	5	3	2.85

Ovintiv presently has a consensus price target of $68.75, indicating a potential upside of 13.68%. Excelerate Energy has a consensus price target of $44.56, indicating a potential upside of 32.67%. Given Excelerate Energy’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Excelerate Energy is more favorable than Ovintiv.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ovintiv and Excelerate Energy”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ovintiv	$8.91 billion	1.87	$1.24 billion	$3.54	17.08
Excelerate Energy	$1.23 billion	3.10	$39.20 million	$1.45	23.16

Ovintiv has higher revenue and earnings than Excelerate Energy. Ovintiv is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Excelerate Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Ovintiv and Excelerate Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ovintiv	9.43%	14.84%	8.11%
Excelerate Energy	3.23%	2.24%	1.22%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.8% of Ovintiv shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 21.8% of Excelerate Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Ovintiv shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Excelerate Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ovintiv beats Excelerate Energy on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ovintiv

Ovintiv Inc., together with its subsidiaries, explores, develops, produces, and markets natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids in the United States and Canada. The company operates through USA Operations, Canadian Operations, and Market Optimization segments. Its principal assets include Permian in west Texas and Anadarko in west-central Oklahoma; and Montney in northeast British Columbia and northwest Alberta. In addition, the company's upstream assets comprise Bakken in northwest North Dakota, and Uinta in central Utah; and Horn River in northeast British Columbia. The company was formerly known as Encana Corporation and changed its name to Ovintiv Inc. in January 2020. Ovintiv Inc. was incorporated in 2020 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

About Excelerate Energy

Excelerate Energy, Inc. provides flexible liquefied natural gas (LNG) solutions worldwide. The company offers regasification services, including floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), infrastructure development, and LNG and natural gas supply, procurement, and distribution services; LNG terminal services; and natural gas supply to-power projects. Excelerate Energy, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas. Excelerate Energy, Inc. is a subsidiary of Excelerate Energy Holdings, LLC.