Baytex Energy (NYSE:BTE – Get Free Report) and Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY – Get Free Report) are both energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Dividends
Baytex Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Occidental Petroleum pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Baytex Energy pays out -11.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Occidental Petroleum pays out 17.3% 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. Occidental Petroleum has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Occidental Petroleum is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Baytex Energy and Occidental Petroleum, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Baytex Energy | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3.00 |
| Occidental Petroleum | 0 | 15 | 12 | 0 | 2.44 |
Occidental Petroleum has a consensus target price of $67.88, indicating a potential upside of 20.15%. Given Occidental Petroleum’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Occidental Petroleum is more favorable than Baytex Energy.
Risk and Volatility
Baytex Energy has a beta of 0.37, indicating that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Occidental Petroleum has a beta of 0.16, indicating that its stock price is 84% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
46.2% of Baytex Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.7% of Occidental Petroleum shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Baytex Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Occidental Petroleum shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Baytex Energy and Occidental Petroleum’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Baytex Energy | -25.82% | -3.82% | -2.61% |
| Occidental Petroleum | 28.36% | 15.31% | 5.69% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Baytex Energy and Occidental Petroleum”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Baytex Energy | $1.91 billion | 1.48 | -$432.12 million | ($0.54) | -7.77 |
| Occidental Petroleum | $22.07 billion | 2.56 | $2.33 billion | $6.46 | 8.75 |
Occidental Petroleum has higher revenue and earnings than Baytex Energy. Baytex Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Occidental Petroleum, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Occidental Petroleum beats Baytex Energy on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Baytex Energy
Baytex Energy Corp. is an oil & gas exploration and production company. The firm engages in the acquisition, development and production of crude oil and natural gas in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and in the Eagle Ford in the United States. The company was founded on June 3, 1993 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
About Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. Its Chemical segment manufactures and markets basic chemicals, including chlorine, caustic soda, chlorinated organics, potassium chemicals, ethylene dichloride, chlorinated isocyanurates, sodium silicates, and calcium chloride; and vinyls comprising vinyl chloride monomer, polyvinyl chloride, and ethylene. The Midstream and Marketing segment gathers, processes, transports, stores, purchases, and markets oil, condensate, NGLs, natural gas, carbon dioxide, and power. This segment also invests in entities. Occidental Petroleum Corporation was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
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