DT Midstream (NYSE:DTM) and Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) Critical Contrast

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) and DT Midstream (NYSE:DTM) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Berry pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. DT Midstream pays an annual dividend of $3.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Berry pays out -10.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. DT Midstream pays out 82.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. DT Midstream has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Berry is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.9% of Berry shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.5% of DT Midstream shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Berry shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of DT Midstream shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Berry and DT Midstream’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Berry	-12.42%	2.95%	1.37%
DT Midstream	34.30%	8.83%	4.25%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Berry and DT Midstream, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Berry	2	2	0	0	1.50
DT Midstream	2	4	8	0	2.43

Berry presently has a consensus price target of $4.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.65%. DT Midstream has a consensus price target of $117.46, indicating a potential upside of 2.33%. Given Berry’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Berry is more favorable than DT Midstream.

Volatility and Risk

Berry has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DT Midstream has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Berry and DT Midstream”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Berry	$776.50 million	0.34	$19.25 million	($1.18)	-2.88
DT Midstream	$981.00 million	11.90	$354.00 million	$3.96	28.99

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

Summary

DT Midstream beats Berry on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Berry

Berry Petroleum Company, LLC., formerly Berry Petroleum Company, is an independent energy company. The Company is engaged in the production, development, exploitation, and acquisition of oil and natural gas. The Company’s principal reserves and producing properties are located in California (South Midway-Sunset (SMWSS)-Steam Floods, North Midway-Sunset (NMWSS)-Diatomite, NMWSS-New Steam Floods, Texas (Permian and E. Texas), Utah (Uinta) and Colorado (Piceance). The Company’s operations are conducted in the continental United States. In December 2013, Linn Energy LLC and Linn Co, LLC (Linn Co) announced the completion of the merger between LinnCo and Berry Petroleum Company (Berry), where LinnCo had acquired all of Berry’s interest.

About DT Midstream

DT Midstream, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Pipeline and Gathering. The Pipeline segment owns and operates interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines, storage systems, and natural gas gathering lateral pipelines. This segment also engages in the transportation and storage of natural gas for intermediate and end-user customers. The Gathering segment owns and operates gas gathering systems. This segment is involved in the collection of natural gas for delivery to plants for treating, to gathering pipelines for further gathering, or to pipelines for transportation; and provision of associated ancillary services, including compression, dehydration, gas treatment, water impoundment, water transportation, water disposal, and sand mining. It serves natural gas producers, local distribution companies, electric power generators, industrials, and national marketers. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan.