Reviewing Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ) and Energy XXI Gulf Coast (EXXI)

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE: CNQ) and Energy XXI Gulf Coast (NASDAQ:EXXI) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Canadian Natural Resources Limited and Energy XXI Gulf Coast’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Canadian Natural Resources Limited	$10.35 billion	3.57	$4.87 billion	$1.02	29.78
Energy XXI Gulf Coast	$621.25 million	0.59	$247.07 million	N/A	N/A

Canadian Natural Resources Limited has higher revenue and earnings than Energy XXI Gulf Coast.

Dividends

Canadian Natural Resources Limited pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Energy XXI Gulf Coast does not pay a dividend. Canadian Natural Resources Limited pays out 78.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

60.3% of Canadian Natural Resources Limited shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.8% of Energy XXI Gulf Coast shares are held by institutional investors. 5.0% of Canadian Natural Resources Limited shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Energy XXI Gulf Coast shares are held 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.

Profitability

This table compares Canadian Natural Resources Limited and Energy XXI Gulf Coast’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Canadian Natural Resources Limited	11.50%	3.33%	1.47%
Energy XXI Gulf Coast	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Canadian Natural Resources Limited and Energy XXI Gulf Coast, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Canadian Natural Resources Limited	0	2	9	1	2.92
Energy XXI Gulf Coast	0	0	0	0	N/A

Canadian Natural Resources Limited currently has a consensus target price of $47.30, indicating a potential upside of 55.69%. Given Canadian Natural Resources Limited’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Canadian Natural Resources Limited is more favorable than Energy XXI Gulf Coast.

Summary

Canadian Natural Resources Limited beats Energy XXI Gulf Coast on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Canadian Natural Resources Limited

Canadian Natural Resources Limited is an independent crude oil and natural gas exploration, development and production company. The Company’s segments include Exploration and Production, Oil Sands Mining and Upgrading, and Midstream. The Exploration and Production segment includes exploration, development, production and marketing of crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and natural gas. The Company’s exploration and production operations are focused in North America in Western Canada, the United Kingdom portion of the North Sea, and Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon and South Africa in Offshore Africa. The Horizon Oil Sands Mining and Upgrading segment (Horizon) produces synthetic crude oil (SCO) through bitumen mining and upgrading operations. Midstream activities include the Company’s pipeline operations, an electricity co-generation system and an investment in the North West Redwater Partnership (Redwater Partnership).

About Energy XXI Gulf Coast

Energy XXI Gulf Coast, Inc. (EGC) is an independent oil and natural gas development and production company which was focused on development drilling on the Company’s core properties. The Company’s properties are located in the United States Gulf of Mexico waters and the Gulf Coast onshore. The Company operates nine oilfields on the Gulf of Mexico Shelf. As of December 31, 2016, total proved reserves were 121.9 million barrels of oil equivalents (MMBOE) of which 78% were crude oil. The Company operated in 616 gross producing wells on 439,294 net developed acres, including interests in 57 producing fields. The Company’s projects include Main Pass Complex, West Delta, Ship Shoal, Grand Isle and South Timbalier. The Main Pass complex is located in approximately 100 feet of water near the mouth of the mississippi river. It includes Main Pass 61 field and Main Pass 73 field along with the Main Pass 296 and 311.