Reviewing HighPeak Energy (NASDAQ:HPK) and Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA)

Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA) and HighPeak Energy (NASDAQ:HPK) are both energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Coterra Energy and HighPeak Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Coterra Energy	1	7	15	0	2.61
HighPeak Energy	3	1	0	1	1.80

Coterra Energy presently has a consensus price target of $33.48, suggesting a potential upside of 9.35%. HighPeak Energy has a consensus price target of $11.67, suggesting a potential upside of 123.93%. Given HighPeak Energy’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe HighPeak Energy is more favorable than Coterra Energy.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

87.9% of Coterra Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.1% of HighPeak Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Coterra Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 78.9% of HighPeak Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Coterra Energy has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HighPeak Energy has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Coterra Energy and HighPeak Energy”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Coterra Energy	$7.65 billion	3.05	$1.12 billion	$2.28	13.43
HighPeak Energy	$1.07 billion	0.61	$95.07 million	$0.36	14.47

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

Profitability

This table compares Coterra Energy and HighPeak Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Coterra Energy	22.46%	10.49%	6.35%
HighPeak Energy	6.03%	4.23%	2.21%

Dividends

Coterra Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. HighPeak Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Coterra Energy pays out 38.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HighPeak Energy pays out 44.4% 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. Coterra Energy has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and HighPeak Energy has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Summary

Coterra Energy beats HighPeak Energy on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Coterra Energy

Coterra Energy Inc., an independent oil and gas company, engages in the development, exploration, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company’s properties include the Marcellus Shale with approximately 186,000 net acres in the dry gas window of the play located in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania; Permian Basin properties with approximately 296,000 net acres located in west Texas and southeast New Mexico; and Anadarko Basin properties with approximately 182,000 net acres located in Oklahoma. It also operates natural gas and saltwater gathering and disposal systems in Texas. The company sells its natural gas to industrial customers, local distribution companies, oil and gas marketers, major energy companies, pipeline companies, and power generation facilities. Coterra Energy Inc. was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About HighPeak Energy

HighPeak Energy, Inc., an independent oil and natural gas company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. The company was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.