YPF Sociedad Anonima (NYSE:YPF) versus Golar LNG (NASDAQ:GLNG) Head-To-Head Analysis

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
YPF Sociedad Anonima	6.32%	12.39%	5.07%
Golar LNG	-2.83%	6.36%	3.44%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for YPF Sociedad Anonima and Golar LNG, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
YPF Sociedad Anonima	0	5	3	0	2.38
Golar LNG	0	3	4	3	3.00

YPF Sociedad Anonima presently has a consensus target price of $43.60, suggesting a potential upside of 20.50%. Golar LNG has a consensus target price of $50.50, suggesting a potential upside of 24.60%. Given Golar LNG’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Golar LNG is more favorable than YPF Sociedad Anonima.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

10.1% of YPF Sociedad Anonima shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.2% of Golar LNG shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Golar LNG shares are owned by company 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 and Risk

YPF Sociedad Anonima has a beta of 1.72, indicating that its share price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Golar LNG has a beta of 0.22, indicating that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares YPF Sociedad Anonima and Golar LNG”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
YPF Sociedad Anonima	$19.16 billion	0.74	$2.35 billion	$3.10	11.67
Golar LNG	$268.90 million	15.76	$50.84 million	($0.07)	-579.00

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

Dividends

YPF Sociedad Anonima pays an annual dividend of $0.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Golar LNG pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. YPF Sociedad Anonima pays out 4.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Golar LNG pays out -1,428.6% 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. Golar LNG has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Golar LNG is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Golar LNG beats YPF Sociedad Anonima on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About YPF Sociedad Anonima

YPF Sociedad Anónima, an energy company, engages in the oil and gas upstream and downstream activities in Argentina. Its upstream operations include the exploration, exploitation, and production of crude oil, and natural gas. The company’s downstream operations include petrochemical production and crude oil refining; transportation and distribution refined and petrochemical products; commercialization of crude oil, petrochemical products, and specialties. Its gas and power operations include transportation, commercialization, and distribution of natural gas; operation of regasification terminals; conditioning, processing, and separation of natural gas; and power generation. The company had interests in oil and gas fields. It also had a retail distribution network and retail service stations. In addition, the company owns and operates refineries, as well as maintains terminal facilities Argentine ports. Further, it participates in power generation plants; offers diesel, fertilizers, lubricants, phytosanitary products, and ensiling bags; and supplies diesel, gasoline, fuel oil, coal, asphalts, paraffin, and sulfur, CO2, decanted oil, and aromatic extract. The company was incorporated in 1977 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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.