Cenovus Energy (CVE) Competitors

Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ) and Cenovus Energy (TSE:CVE) are both large-cap energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts recommend CNQ or CVE?

Canadian Natural Resources currently has a consensus price target of C$54.58, suggesting a potential upside of 24.70%. Cenovus Energy has a consensus price target of C$28.15, suggesting a potential upside of 46.92%. Given Cenovus Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Cenovus Energy is more favorable than Canadian Natural Resources.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Canadian Natural Resources	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71
Cenovus Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, CNQ or CVE?

Canadian Natural Resources has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Cenovus Energy. Cenovus Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Canadian Natural 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
Canadian Natural Resources	C$35.38B	2.60	C$7.52B	C$3.60	12.15
Cenovus Energy	C$54.87B	0.64	C$3.69B	C$2.03	9.44

Is CNQ or CVE more profitable?

Canadian Natural Resources has a net margin of 21.25% compared to Cenovus Energy's net margin of 6.72%. Canadian Natural Resources' return on equity of 19.14% beat Cenovus Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Canadian Natural Resources	21.25%	19.14%	8.80%
Cenovus Energy	6.72%	12.67%	7.58%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of CNQ or CVE?

77.8% of Canadian Natural Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.2% of Cenovus Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.3% of Canadian Natural Resources shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 32.0% of Cenovus Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is CNQ or CVE a better dividend stock?

Canadian Natural Resources pays an annual dividend of C$2.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Cenovus Energy pays an annual dividend of C$0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Canadian Natural Resources pays out 59.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cenovus Energy pays out 35.5% 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.

Does the media refer more to CNQ or CVE?

In the previous week, Canadian Natural Resources had 8 more articles in the media than Cenovus Energy. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Canadian Natural Resources and 1 mentions for Cenovus Energy. Cenovus Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.36 beat Canadian Natural Resources' score of 0.11 indicating that Cenovus Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Canadian Natural Resources	2 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Cenovus Energy	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, CNQ or CVE?

Canadian Natural Resources has a beta of 1.89, meaning that its share price is 89% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cenovus Energy has a beta of 2.63, meaning that its share price is 163% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Canadian Natural Resources beats Cenovus Energy on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.