Head-To-Head Survey: Vitesse Energy (NYSE:VTS) & ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM)

Vitesse Energy (NYSE:VTS) and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Vitesse Energy and ExxonMobil’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vitesse Energy	-3.95%	-0.02%	-0.02%
ExxonMobil	8.88%	13.14%	7.62%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

51.6% of Vitesse Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.8% of ExxonMobil shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.9% of Vitesse Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of ExxonMobil shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Vitesse Energy and ExxonMobil, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vitesse Energy	1	2	3	0	2.33
ExxonMobil	0	13	12	0	2.48

Vitesse Energy presently has a consensus target price of $20.25, indicating a potential upside of 20.71%. ExxonMobil has a consensus target price of $164.26, indicating a potential upside of 2.36%. Given Vitesse Energy’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Vitesse Energy is more favorable than ExxonMobil.

Dividends

Vitesse Energy pays an annual dividend of $1.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.4%. ExxonMobil pays an annual dividend of $4.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Vitesse Energy pays out -530.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ExxonMobil pays out 53.0% 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. Vitesse Energy has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and ExxonMobil has raised its dividend for 42 consecutive years. Vitesse Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Vitesse Energy and ExxonMobil”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vitesse Energy	$273.99 million	2.58	$25.28 million	($0.33)	-50.84
ExxonMobil	$332.24 billion	2.00	$28.84 billion	$7.77	20.65

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

Risk & Volatility

Vitesse Energy has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ExxonMobil has a beta of 0.18, indicating that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

ExxonMobil beats Vitesse Energy on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vitesse Energy

Vitesse Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, development, and production of non-operated oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It owns and acquires non-operated working interest and royalty interest ownership in the Williston Basin properties located in North Dakota and Montana. The company also owns non-operated interests in the Central Rockies properties located in Colorado and Wyoming. Vitesse Energy, Inc. was founded in 2014 and is based in Centennial, Colorado.

About ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil Corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and internationally. It operates through Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas. The Energy Products segment offers fuels, aromatics, catalysts, and licensing services. It sells its products under the Exxon, Esso, and Mobil brands. The Chemical Products segment manufactures and markets petrochemicals, including olefins, polyolefins, and intermediates. The Specialty Products segment offers performance products, including lubricants, basestocks, waxes, synthetics, elastomers, and resins. The company is also involved in the manufacturing, trade, transport, and selling crude oil, natural gas, petroleum products, petrochemicals, and other specialty products in pursuit of lower-emission business opportunities, including carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, lower-emission fuels, and lithium. Exxon Mobil Corporation was founded in 1870 and is based in Spring, Texas.