YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF – Get Free Report) and Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU – Get Free Report) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, earnings, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Volatility and Risk
YPF Sociedad Anónima has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peabody Energy has a beta of 0.33, suggesting that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
10.1% of YPF Sociedad Anónima shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of Peabody Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Peabody Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares YPF Sociedad Anónima and Peabody Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| YPF Sociedad Anónima | 3.60% | 10.86% | 4.20% |
| Peabody Energy | -4.56% | -5.22% | -3.22% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares YPF Sociedad Anónima and Peabody Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| YPF Sociedad Anónima | $18.45 billion | 1.05 | -$826.00 million | $1.90 | 25.85 |
| Peabody Energy | $3.86 billion | 0.71 | -$52.90 million | ($1.50) | -14.93 |
Peabody Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings than YPF Sociedad Anónima. Peabody Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than YPF Sociedad Anónima, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for YPF Sociedad Anónima and Peabody Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| YPF Sociedad Anónima | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Peabody Energy | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.17 |
YPF Sociedad Anónima presently has a consensus price target of $60.33, indicating a potential upside of 22.85%. Peabody Energy has a consensus price target of $33.88, indicating a potential upside of 51.27%. Given Peabody Energy’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Peabody Energy is more favorable than YPF Sociedad Anónima.
Summary
YPF Sociedad Anónima beats Peabody Energy on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About YPF Sociedad Anónima
YPF Sociedad Anónima, an energy company, engages in the oil and gas upstream and downstream activities in Argentina. Its upstream operations include the exploration, exploitation, and production of crude oil, and natural gas. The company’s downstream operations include petrochemical production and crude oil refining; transportation and distribution refined and petrochemical products; commercialization of crude oil, petrochemical products, and specialties. Its gas and power operations include transportation, commercialization, and distribution of natural gas; operation of regasification terminals; conditioning, processing, and separation of natural gas; and power generation. The company had interests in oil and gas fields. It also had a retail distribution network and retail service stations. In addition, the company owns and operates refineries, as well as maintains terminal facilities Argentine ports. Further, it participates in power generation plants; offers diesel, fertilizers, lubricants, phytosanitary products, and ensiling bags; and supplies diesel, gasoline, fuel oil, coal, asphalts, paraffin, and sulfur, CO2, decanted oil, and aromatic extract. The company was incorporated in 1977 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
About Peabody Energy
Peabody Energy Corporation engages in coal mining business in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, India, Brazil, Belgium, Chile, France, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Germany, and internationally. The company operates through Seaborne Thermal, Seaborne Metallurgical, Powder River Basin, Other U.S. Thermal, and Corporate and Other segments. It is involved in the mining, preparation, and sale of thermal coal primarily to electric utilities; mining bituminous and sub-bituminous coal deposits; low sulfur and high British thermal unit thermal coal; and mining metallurgical coal, such as hard coking coal, semi-hard coking coal, semi-soft coking coal, and pulverized coal injection coal. The company supplies coal primarily to electricity generators, industrial facilities, and steel manufacturers. It also engages in marketing and brokering of coal from other coal producers; trading of coal and freight-related contracts, as well as provides transportation-related services. The company was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.
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