Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY – Get Free Report) and Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC – Get Free Report) are both large-cap energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and profitability.
Dividends
Occidental Petroleum pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Ecopetrol pays an annual dividend of $0.65 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Occidental Petroleum pays out 17.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ecopetrol pays out 34.4% 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. Occidental Petroleum has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
88.7% of Occidental Petroleum shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Occidental Petroleum shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Occidental Petroleum and Ecopetrol’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Occidental Petroleum | 28.36% | 15.31% | 5.69% |
| Ecopetrol | 11.46% | 14.50% | 5.42% |
Risk & Volatility
Occidental Petroleum has a beta of 0.24, indicating that its stock price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ecopetrol has a beta of 0.46, indicating that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Occidental Petroleum and Ecopetrol, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Occidental Petroleum | 0 | 14 | 13 | 0 | 2.48 |
| Ecopetrol | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2.12 |
Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus price target of $67.46, suggesting a potential upside of 7.17%. Ecopetrol has a consensus price target of $15.34, suggesting a potential downside of 13.27%. Given Occidental Petroleum’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Occidental Petroleum is more favorable than Ecopetrol.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Occidental Petroleum and Ecopetrol”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Occidental Petroleum | $22.07 billion | 2.85 | $2.33 billion | $6.46 | 9.74 |
| Ecopetrol | $29.56 billion | 1.23 | $2.10 billion | $1.89 | 9.36 |
Occidental Petroleum has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Ecopetrol. Ecopetrol is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Occidental Petroleum, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Occidental Petroleum beats Ecopetrol on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. Its Chemical segment manufactures and markets basic chemicals, including chlorine, caustic soda, chlorinated organics, potassium chemicals, ethylene dichloride, chlorinated isocyanurates, sodium silicates, and calcium chloride; and vinyls comprising vinyl chloride monomer, polyvinyl chloride, and ethylene. The Midstream and Marketing segment gathers, processes, transports, stores, purchases, and markets oil, condensate, NGLs, natural gas, carbon dioxide, and power. This segment also invests in entities. Occidental Petroleum Corporation was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
About Ecopetrol
Ecopetrol S.A. operates as an integrated energy company. The company operates through four segments: Exploration and Production; Transport and Logistics; Refining, Petrochemical and Biofuels; and Electric Power Transmission and Toll Roads Concessions. It engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas; transportation of crude oil, motor fuels, fuel oil, and other refined products, including diesel, jet, and biofuels; processing and refining crude oil; distribution of natural gas and LPG; sale of refined and petrochemical products; supplying of electric power transmission services; design, development, construction, operation, and maintenance of road and energy infrastructure projects; and supplying of information technology and telecommunications services. As of December 31, 2022, the company had approximately 9,127 kilometers of crude oil and multi-purpose pipelines. It also produces and commercializes polypropylene resins and compounds, and masterbatches; and offers industrial service sales to customers and specialized management services. It has operations in Colombia, the United States, Asia, Central America and the Caribbean, Europe, and South America. The company was formerly known as Empresa Colombiana de Petróleos and changed its name to Ecopetrol S.A. in June 2003. Ecopetrol S.A. was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Bogotá, Colombia.
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