Reviewing Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) and EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG)

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV) and EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) are both large-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Ovintiv and EOG Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ovintiv	0	4	13	1	2.83
EOG Resources	0	11	9	1	2.52

Ovintiv currently has a consensus price target of $56.88, suggesting a potential upside of 30.88%. EOG Resources has a consensus price target of $144.85, suggesting a potential upside of 8.51%. Given Ovintiv’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ovintiv is more favorable than EOG Resources.

Dividends

Ovintiv pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. EOG Resources pays an annual dividend of $3.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Ovintiv pays out 15.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. EOG Resources pays out 31.4% 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ovintiv and EOG Resources”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ovintiv	$10.13 billion	1.12	$2.09 billion	$7.54	5.76
EOG Resources	$23.76 billion	3.16	$7.59 billion	$12.42	10.75

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

Volatility & Risk

Ovintiv has a beta of 2.6, meaning that its share price is 160% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EOG Resources has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Ovintiv and EOG Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ovintiv	20.15%	17.87%	9.35%
EOG Resources	29.18%	23.77%	15.24%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

83.8% of Ovintiv shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.9% of EOG Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Ovintiv shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of EOG Resources shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

EOG Resources beats Ovintiv on 10 of the 16 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 EOG Resources

EOG Resources, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily in producing basins in the United States, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and internationally. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company. EOG Resources, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.