Financial Analysis: Talos Energy (NYSE:TALO) & Vitesse Energy (NYSE:VTS)

Vitesse Energy (NYSE:VTS) and Talos Energy (NYSE:TALO) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Vitesse Energy and Talos Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vitesse Energy	0	4	2	0	2.33
Talos Energy	1	2	3	0	2.33

Vitesse Energy currently has a consensus price target of $24.50, indicating a potential upside of 7.74%. Talos Energy has a consensus price target of $13.50, indicating a potential downside of 0.18%. Given Vitesse Energy’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Vitesse Energy is more favorable than Talos Energy.

Profitability

This table compares Vitesse Energy and Talos Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vitesse Energy	7.70%	5.71%	3.87%
Talos Energy	-19.02%	-2.76%	-1.20%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Vitesse Energy and Talos Energy”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vitesse Energy	$242.00 million	3.63	$21.06 million	$0.50	45.48
Talos Energy	$1.97 billion	1.16	-$76.39 million	($2.01)	-6.73

Vitesse Energy has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Talos Energy. Talos Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vitesse Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

51.6% of Vitesse Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.4% of Talos Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.2% of Vitesse Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Talos Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Vitesse Energy has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Talos Energy has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Vitesse Energy beats Talos Energy on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vitesse Energy

Vitesse Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, development, and production of non-operated oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It owns and acquires non-operated working interest and royalty interest ownership in the Williston Basin properties located in North Dakota and Montana. The company also owns non-operated interests in the Central Rockies properties located in Colorado and Wyoming. Vitesse Energy, Inc. was founded in 2014 and is based in Centennial, Colorado.

About Talos Energy

Talos Energy Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States and Mexico. It also engages in the development of carbon capture and sequestration. Talos Energy Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.