Head to Head Survey: BP (NYSE:BP) & Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG)

BP (NYSE:BP) and Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for BP and Golar LNG, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BP	2	13	1	1	2.06
Golar LNG	0	0	4	2	3.33

BP currently has a consensus price target of $35.50, suggesting a potential upside of 9.25%. Golar LNG has a consensus price target of $53.00, suggesting a potential upside of 29.21%. Given Golar LNG’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Golar LNG is more favorable than BP.

Dividends

BP pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Golar LNG pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. BP pays out -413.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Golar LNG pays out 3,333.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Golar LNG has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. BP is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares BP and Golar LNG’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BP	-0.62%	9.51%	2.74%
Golar LNG	1.04%	6.82%	3.98%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares BP and Golar LNG”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BP	$194.63 billion	0.44	$381.00 million	($0.46)	-70.64
Golar LNG	$257.92 million	16.63	$50.84 million	$0.03	1,367.33

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

11.0% of BP shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.2% of Golar LNG shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of BP shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Golar LNG shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

BP has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Golar LNG has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Golar LNG beats BP on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BP

BP p.l.c. provides carbon products and services. The company operates through Gas & Low Carbon Energy, Oil Production & Operations, and Customers & Products segments. It engages in the production of natural gas, and integrated gas and power; trading of gas; operation of onshore and offshore wind power, as well as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage facilities; trading and marketing of renewable and non-renewable power; and production of crude oil. In addition, the company involved in convenience and retail fuel, EV charging, Castrol lubricant, aviation, B2B, and midstream businesses; refining and oil trading; and bioenergy business. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Golar LNG

Golar LNG Limited designs, converts, owns, and operates marine infrastructure for the liquefaction of natural gas. The company operates through three segments: FLNG, Corporate and Other, and Shipping. It engages in the regasification, storage, and offloading of liquefied natural gas (LNG); operation of floating liquefaction natural gas (FLNG) vessels or projects; transportation of LNG carriers; and vessel management activities. Golar LNG Limited was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.