Critical Contrast: ENI (NYSE:E) & BP (NYSE:BP)

ENI (NYSE:E) and BP (NYSE:BP) are both large-cap energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ENI	$98.71 billion	0.58	$2.84 billion	$1.62	21.04
BP	$194.63 billion	0.45	$381.00 million	$0.21	157.82

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.2% of ENI shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.0% of BP shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of ENI shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of BP shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for ENI and BP, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ENI	0	8	0	0	2.00
BP	1	9	5	2	2.47

ENI currently has a consensus target price of $34.60, indicating a potential upside of 1.53%. BP has a consensus target price of $42.14, indicating a potential upside of 27.14%. Given BP’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe BP is more favorable than ENI.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ENI	2.84%	8.53%	3.31%
BP	0.29%	9.08%	2.57%

Dividends

ENI pays an annual dividend of $1.69 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. BP pays an annual dividend of $1.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. ENI pays out 104.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. BP pays out 942.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Risk and Volatility

ENI has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BP has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

BP beats ENI on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ENI

Eni SpA engages in the exploration, production, refining, and sale of oil, gas, electricity, and chemicals. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production, Global Gas and LNG Portfolio, Refining & Marketing and Chemicals, Power & Renewables, and Corporate and Other Activities. The Exploration and Production segment engages in research, development and production of oil, condensates and natural gas, forestry conservation (REDD+) and CO2 capture and storage projects. The Global Gas and LNG Portfolio segment refers to the supply and sale of wholesale natural gas by pipeline, international transport and purchase and marketing of LNG, which includes gas trading activities finalized to hedging and stabilizing the trade margins, as well as optimizing the gas asset portfolio. The Refining & Marketing and Chemicals segment engages in supply, processing, distribution, and marketing of fuels and chemicals. The Corporate and Other Activities segment includes the main business support functions in particular holding, central treasury, IT, human resources, real estate services, captive insurance activities, research and development, new technologies, business digitalization, and environmental activities. The company was founded on February 10, 1953 and is headquartered in Rome, Italy.

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.