Comparing Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.B) & CENTENNIAL RES (NASDAQ:CDEV)

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS.B) and CENTENNIAL RES (NASDAQ:CDEV) are both mid-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitabiliy, dividends and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Royal Dutch Shell PLC and CENTENNIAL RES’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Royal Dutch Shell PLC	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.87	N/A
CENTENNIAL RES	$144.81 million	23.55	$88.07 million	N/A	N/A

CENTENNIAL RES has higher revenue and earnings than Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Royal Dutch Shell PLC and CENTENNIAL RES, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Royal Dutch Shell PLC	0	1	0	0	2.00
CENTENNIAL RES	0	1	6	0	2.86

CENTENNIAL RES has a consensus target price of $23.83, indicating a potential upside of 44.71%.

Risk & Volatility

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CENTENNIAL RES has a beta of 2.12, indicating that its stock price is 112% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Royal Dutch Shell PLC pays an annual dividend of $3.76 per share. CENTENNIAL RES does not pay a dividend. Royal Dutch Shell PLC pays out 201.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares Royal Dutch Shell PLC and CENTENNIAL RES’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Royal Dutch Shell PLC	2.95%	4.73%	2.17%
CENTENNIAL RES	N/A	-15.50%	-12.60%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

5.2% of Royal Dutch Shell PLC shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Royal Dutch Shell PLC shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 44.7% of CENTENNIAL RES shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

CENTENNIAL RES beats Royal Dutch Shell PLC on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Royal Dutch Shell PLC

The Royal Dutch Shell plc explores for crude oil and natural gas around the world, both in conventional fields and from sources, such as tight rock, shale and coal formations. The Company’s segments include Integrated Gas, Upstream, Downstream and Corporate. The Integrated Gas segment is engaged in the liquefaction and transportation of gas and the conversion of natural gas to liquids to provide fuels and other products, as well as projects with an integrated activity, ranging from producing to commercializing gas. The Upstream segment includes the operations of Upstream, which is engaged in the exploration for and extraction of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, and the marketing and transportation of oil and gas, and Oil Sands, which is engaged in the extraction of bitumen from mined oil sands and conversion into synthetic crude oil. The Downstream segment is engaged in oil products and chemicals manufacturing, and marketing activities.

About CENTENNIAL RES

Centennial Resource Development, Inc. is an independent oil and natural gas company. The Company is focused on the development of unconventional oil and associated liquids-rich natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin. The Company’s assets are concentrated in the Delaware Basin, a sub-basin of the Permian Basin. Its properties consist of large, contiguous acreage blocks in Reeves, Ward and Pecos counties in West Texas. As of December 31, 2016, the Company held approximately 92% membership interest in Centennial Resource Production, LLC (CRP). As of December 31, 2016, its portfolio included 106 operated producing horizontal wells. The horizontal wells span an area of approximately 45 miles long by 20 miles wide where it had commercial production in five zones: the 3rd Bone Spring Sandstone, Upper Wolfcamp A, Lower Wolfcamp A, Wolfcamp B and Wolfcamp C.