Financial Contrast: Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) versus ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.9% of Berry shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.4% of ConocoPhillips shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Berry shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of ConocoPhillips shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Berry and ConocoPhillips’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Berry	-12.42%	2.95%	1.37%
ConocoPhillips	15.26%	14.60%	7.68%

Volatility & Risk

Berry has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ConocoPhillips has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Berry pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. ConocoPhillips pays an annual dividend of $3.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Berry pays out -10.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ConocoPhillips pays out 47.5% 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Berry and ConocoPhillips, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Berry	2	2	0	0	1.50
ConocoPhillips	0	6	18	0	2.75

Berry presently has a consensus target price of $4.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.65%. ConocoPhillips has a consensus target price of $115.33, indicating a potential upside of 29.59%. Given ConocoPhillips’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ConocoPhillips is more favorable than Berry.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Berry and ConocoPhillips”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Berry	$776.50 million	0.34	$19.25 million	($1.18)	-2.88
ConocoPhillips	$59.79 billion	1.84	$9.25 billion	$7.07	12.59

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

Summary

ConocoPhillips beats Berry on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Berry

Berry Petroleum Company, LLC., formerly Berry Petroleum Company, is an independent energy company. The Company is engaged in the production, development, exploitation, and acquisition of oil and natural gas. The Company’s principal reserves and producing properties are located in California (South Midway-Sunset (SMWSS)-Steam Floods, North Midway-Sunset (NMWSS)-Diatomite, NMWSS-New Steam Floods, Texas (Permian and E. Texas), Utah (Uinta) and Colorado (Piceance). The Company’s operations are conducted in the continental United States. In December 2013, Linn Energy LLC and Linn Co, LLC (Linn Co) announced the completion of the merger between LinnCo and Berry Petroleum Company (Berry), where LinnCo had acquired all of Berry’s interest.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects. ConocoPhillips was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.