California Resources (NYSE:CRC) & TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) Critical Review

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) and TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares California Resources and TotalEnergies”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
California Resources	$2.80 billion	1.44	$564.00 million	$6.35	9.38
TotalEnergies	$203.26 billion	0.69	$21.38 billion	$7.05	8.46

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

Volatility & Risk

California Resources has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TotalEnergies has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares California Resources and TotalEnergies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
California Resources	17.43%	12.16%	6.15%
TotalEnergies	7.78%	15.93%	6.75%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for California Resources and TotalEnergies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
California Resources	0	1	9	0	2.90
TotalEnergies	0	5	1	2	2.63

California Resources presently has a consensus price target of $65.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.92%. TotalEnergies has a consensus price target of $78.75, indicating a potential upside of 32.00%. Given TotalEnergies’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe TotalEnergies is more favorable than California Resources.

Dividends

California Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. TotalEnergies pays an annual dividend of $2.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. California Resources pays out 24.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. TotalEnergies pays out 36.6% 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.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.8% of California Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.2% of TotalEnergies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of California Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

California Resources beats TotalEnergies on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About California Resources

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production, and carbon management company in the United States. The company explores, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities. It also engages in the generation and sale of electricity to the wholesale power market and utility sector; and developing various carbon capture and storage projects in California. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Long Beach, California.

About TotalEnergies

TotalEnergies SE, a multi-energy company, produces and markets oil and biofuels, natural gas, green gases, renewables, and electricity in France, rest of Europe, North America, Africa, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Exploration & Production, Integrated LNG, Integrated Power, Refining & Chemicals, and Marketing & Services. The Exploration & Production segment is involved in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas. The Integrated LNG segment comprises the integrated gas chain, including upstream and midstream liquified natural gas (LNG) activities, as well as biogas, hydrogen, and gas trading activities. The Integrated Power segment includes generation, storage, electricity trading, and B2B-B2C distribution of gas and electricity. The Refining & Chemicals segment consists of refining, petrochemicals, and specialty chemicals. This segment also includes oil supply, trading, and marine shipping activities. The Marketing & Services segment supplies and markets petroleum products. The company was formerly known as TOTAL SE and changed its name to TotalEnergies SE in June 2021. TotalEnergies SE was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Courbevoie, France.