INPLAY OIL CP (OTCMKTS:IPOOF) versus Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) Critical Contrast

INPLAY OIL CP (OTCMKTS:IPOOF) and Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

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

Volatility & Risk

INPLAY OIL CP has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ovintiv has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

INPLAY OIL CP pays an annual dividend of $0.79 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.6%. Ovintiv pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. INPLAY OIL CP pays out -1,975.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ovintiv pays out 53.1% 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 raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. INPLAY OIL CP is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for INPLAY OIL CP and Ovintiv, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
INPLAY OIL CP	0	1	1	2	3.25
Ovintiv	1	4	13	1	2.74

Ovintiv has a consensus price target of $51.12, suggesting a potential upside of 40.95%. Given Ovintiv’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ovintiv is more favorable than INPLAY OIL CP.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares INPLAY OIL CP and Ovintiv”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
INPLAY OIL CP	$210.66 million	1.09	$6.91 million	($0.04)	-206.25
Ovintiv	$9.15 billion	1.02	$1.13 billion	$2.26	16.05

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

Profitability

This table compares INPLAY OIL CP and Ovintiv’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
INPLAY OIL CP	-0.63%	1.18%	0.56%
Ovintiv	6.46%	14.24%	7.52%

Summary

Ovintiv beats INPLAY OIL CP on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About INPLAY OIL CP

InPlay Oil Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of petroleum and natural gas properties in Canada. The company produces and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. It focuses on light oil asset base located in West Central, Alberta. InPlay Oil Corp. is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

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.