California Resources (CRC) Competitors

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) and APA (NASDAQ:APA) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and media sentiment.

Is CRC or APA more profitable?

California Resources has a net margin of 13.70% compared to APA's net margin of 9.75%. APA's return on equity of 23.22% beat California Resources' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
California Resources	13.70%	11.45%	5.64%
APA	9.75%	23.22%	7.63%

Which has more volatility and risk, CRC or APA?

California Resources has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, APA has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CRC or APA a better dividend stock?

California Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. APA pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. California Resources pays out 28.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. APA pays out 36.0% 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. California Resources has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Do analysts recommend CRC or APA?

California Resources currently has a consensus price target of $61.27, indicating a potential upside of 29.35%. APA has a consensus price target of $24.83, indicating a potential upside of 21.14%. Given California Resources' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe California Resources is more favorable than APA.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
California Resources	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
APA	3 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.06

Does the media favor CRC or APA?

In the previous week, APA had 14 more articles in the media than California Resources. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for APA and 8 mentions for California Resources. APA's average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat California Resources' score of 0.22 indicating that APA is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
California Resources	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
APA	13 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of CRC or APA?

97.8% of California Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.0% of APA shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of California Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of APA shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better valuation and earnings, CRC or APA?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
California Resources	$3.20B	1.32	$376M	$5.51	8.60
APA	$9.74B	0.76	$804M	$2.78	7.37

Summary

California Resources beats APA on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.