Head-To-Head Contrast: Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) & SilverBow Resources (NYSE:SBOW)

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) and SilverBow Resources (NYSE:SBOW) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Cenovus Energy and SilverBow Resources, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cenovus Energy	0	0	4	0	3.00
SilverBow Resources	0	4	3	0	2.43

Cenovus Energy presently has a consensus price target of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 45.95%. SilverBow Resources has a consensus price target of $45.33, indicating a potential upside of 18.30%. Given Cenovus Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Cenovus Energy is more favorable than SilverBow Resources.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Cenovus Energy and SilverBow Resources’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cenovus Energy	$56.76 billion	0.65	$3.04 billion	$1.80	11.04
SilverBow Resources	$652.36 million	1.50	$297.72 million	$7.40	5.18

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

Risk & Volatility

Cenovus Energy has a beta of 2.07, suggesting that its stock price is 107% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SilverBow Resources has a beta of 2.58, suggesting that its stock price is 158% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Cenovus Energy and SilverBow Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cenovus Energy	8.73%	16.53%	8.56%
SilverBow Resources	24.41%	16.48%	7.66%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

51.2% of Cenovus Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.8% of SilverBow Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of SilverBow Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Cenovus Energy beats SilverBow Resources on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cenovus Energy

Cenovus Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, refines, transports, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and refined petroleum products in Canada and internationally. The company operates through Oil Sands, Conventional, Offshore, Canadian Refining, and U.S. Refining segments. The Oil Sands segment develops and produces bitumen and heavy oil in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. This segment assets include Foster Creek, Christina Lake, and Sunrise projects, as well as Lloydminster thermal and conventional heavy oil assets. The Conventional segment holds natural gas liquids and natural gas assets primarily located in Elmworth-Wapiti, Kaybob-Edson, Clearwater, and Rainbow Lake operating in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as interests in various natural gas processing facilities. The offshore segment engages in offshore operation, exploration, and development activities in China and the East Coast of Canada. The Canadian Refining segment owns and operates Lloydminster upgrading and asphalt refining complex, which converts heavy oil and bitumen into synthetic crude oil, diesel, asphalt, and other ancillary products, as well as Bruderheim crude-by-rail terminal and ethanol plants. The U.S. Refining segment refines crude oil to produce gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt, and other products. Cenovus Energy Inc. is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About SilverBow Resources

SilverBow Resources, Inc., an independent oil and gas company, exploration, develops, acquires, and operates oil and natural gas properties in the Eagle Ford shale and Austin Chalk located in South Texas. The company was formerly known as Swift Energy Company and changed its name to SilverBow Resources, Inc. in May 2017. SilverBow Resources, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.