Critical Review: ZaZa Energy (OTCMKTS:ZAZA) & Shell (NYSE:SHEL)

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) and ZaZa Energy (OTCMKTS:ZAZA) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Shell and ZaZa Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shell	5.83%	13.83%	6.44%
ZaZa Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

28.6% of Shell shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Shell shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 56.9% of ZaZa Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Shell and ZaZa Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shell	0	2	3	0	2.60
ZaZa Energy	0	0	0	0	N/A

Shell currently has a consensus target price of $79.67, suggesting a potential upside of 10.78%.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Shell and ZaZa Energy’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shell	$323.18 billion	0.71	$19.36 billion	$5.42	13.27
ZaZa Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Shell has higher revenue and earnings than ZaZa Energy.

Risk and Volatility

Shell has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ZaZa Energy has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Shell beats ZaZa Energy on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Shell

Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and Rest of the Americas. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure to deliver gas to market. The company also markets and trades natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude oil, electricity, carbon-emission rights; and markets and sells LNG as a fuel for heavy-duty vehicles. In addition, it trades in and refines crude oil and other feed stocks, such as low-carbon fuels, lubricants, bitumen, sulphur, gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and marine fuel; produces and sells petrochemicals for industrial use; and manages oil sands activities. Further, the company produces base chemicals comprising ethylene, propylene, and aromatics, as well as intermediate chemicals, such as styrene monomer, propylene oxide, solvents, detergent alcohols, ethylene oxide, and ethylene glycol. Additionally, it generates electricity through wind and solar resources; produces and sells hydrogen; and provides electric vehicle charging services. The company was formerly known as Royal Dutch Shell plc and changed its name to Shell plc in January 2022. Shell plc was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About ZaZa Energy

ZaZa Energy Corporation, an independent oil and gas company, focuses on the exploration and production of unconventional and conventional oil and gas assets in the United States. The company's properties include the Eagle Ford East Trend comprising approximately 41,000 net acres in Houston, Leon, Madison, Grimes, Walker, Trinity, and Montgomery counties in East Texas; and Eagle Ford Trend covering approximately 3,700 net acres located in DeWitt and Lavaca counties in South Texas. ZaZa Energy Corporation is headquartered in Houston, Texas.