Contrasting Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) and Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE)

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) and Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ovintiv and Excelerate Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ovintiv	$8.91 billion	1.87	$1.24 billion	$3.54	17.08
Excelerate Energy	$1.23 billion	3.10	$39.20 million	$1.45	23.16

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Ovintiv and Excelerate Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ovintiv	0	3	19	1	2.91
Excelerate Energy	0	5	5	3	2.85

Ovintiv presently has a consensus price target of $68.75, suggesting a potential upside of 13.68%. Excelerate Energy has a consensus price target of $44.56, suggesting a potential upside of 32.67%. Given Excelerate Energy’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Excelerate Energy is more favorable than Ovintiv.

Dividends

Ovintiv pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Excelerate Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ovintiv pays out 33.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Excelerate Energy pays out 24.8% 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 and Excelerate Energy has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Ovintiv is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Ovintiv and Excelerate Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ovintiv	9.43%	14.84%	8.11%
Excelerate Energy	3.23%	2.24%	1.22%

Volatility and Risk

Ovintiv has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Excelerate Energy has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

83.8% of Ovintiv shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 21.8% of Excelerate Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Ovintiv shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Excelerate Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ovintiv beats Excelerate Energy on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Excelerate Energy

Excelerate Energy, Inc. provides flexible liquefied natural gas (LNG) solutions worldwide. The company offers regasification services, including floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), infrastructure development, and LNG and natural gas supply, procurement, and distribution services; LNG terminal services; and natural gas supply to-power projects. Excelerate Energy, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas. Excelerate Energy, Inc. is a subsidiary of Excelerate Energy Holdings, LLC.