Analyzing Athabasca Oil (OTCMKTS:ATHOF) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX)

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and Athabasca Oil (OTCMKTS:ATHOF) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Chevron and Athabasca Oil’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chevron	9.57%	11.14%	6.56%
Athabasca Oil	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Chevron and Athabasca Oil, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chevron	1	6	18	0	2.68
Athabasca Oil	0	4	1	0	2.20

Chevron presently has a consensus target price of $207.48, suggesting a potential upside of 10.68%. Given Chevron’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Chevron is more favorable than Athabasca Oil.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Chevron and Athabasca Oil”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chevron	$189.03 billion	1.97	$12.30 billion	$10.43	17.97
Athabasca Oil	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.34)	-20.04

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

72.4% of Chevron shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 31.1% of Athabasca Oil shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Chevron 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.

Summary

Chevron beats Athabasca Oil on 11 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chevron

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the integrated energy and chemicals operations in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification of liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas; and carbon capture and storage, as well as a gas-to-liquids plant. The Downstream segment refines crude oil into petroleum products; markets crude oil, refined products, and lubricants; manufactures and markets renewable fuels, commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives; and transports crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corporation and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is headquartered in San Ramon, California.

About Athabasca Oil

Athabasca Oil Corporation engages in the exploration, development, and production of thermal and light oil resource plays in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta, Canada. It operates through Thermal Oil and Light Oil segments. The company's principal properties are in the Greater Kaybob areas near the Town of Fox Creek in northwestern Alberta; and the Leismer/Corner, Hangingstone, and Dover West projects located in the Athabasca region of northeastern Alberta. It produces light and medium crude oil, tight oil, conventional natural gas, shale gas, and natural gas liquids, as well as bitumen from sand and carbonate rock formations. The company was formerly known as Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. and changed its name to Athabasca Oil Corporation in May 2012. Athabasca Oil Corporation was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.