Critical Contrast: OPAL Fuels (NASDAQ:OPAL) versus Crescent Energy (NYSE:CRGY)

OPAL Fuels (NASDAQ:OPAL) and Crescent Energy (NYSE:CRGY) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares OPAL Fuels and Crescent Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
OPAL Fuels	$348.98 million	0.97	$14.75 million	$0.07	27.86
Crescent Energy	$3.81 billion	1.01	$132.91 million	($0.75)	-15.47

Crescent Energy has higher revenue and earnings than OPAL Fuels. Crescent Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than OPAL Fuels, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for OPAL Fuels and Crescent Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OPAL Fuels	2	3	0	0	1.60
Crescent Energy	1	3	8	2	2.79

OPAL Fuels currently has a consensus price target of $2.72, indicating a potential upside of 39.32%. Crescent Energy has a consensus price target of $16.00, indicating a potential upside of 37.86%. Given OPAL Fuels’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe OPAL Fuels is more favorable than Crescent Energy.

Profitability

This table compares OPAL Fuels and Crescent Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OPAL Fuels	1.33%	-479.62%	0.47%
Crescent Energy	-7.47%	8.10%	3.47%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.2% of OPAL Fuels shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.1% of Crescent Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 85.7% of OPAL Fuels shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.2% of Crescent Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

OPAL Fuels has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Crescent Energy has a beta of 1.37, suggesting that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Crescent Energy beats OPAL Fuels on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About OPAL Fuels

OPAL Fuels Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and distribution of renewable natural gas for use as a vehicle fuel for heavy and medium-duty trucking fleets. It also designs, develops, constructs, operates, and services fueling stations for trucking fleets that use natural gas to displace diesel as transportation fuel. In addition, it offers design, development, and construction services for hydrogen fueling stations. Further, the company engages in the generation and sale of renewable power to utilities. OPAL Fuels Inc. is based in White Plains, New York.

About Crescent Energy

Crescent Energy Company acquires, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs) reserves. Its portfolio of assets comprises mid-cycle unconventional and conventional assets in the Eagle Ford and Uinta Basins. It also owns and operates various midstream assets, which provide services to customers. The company is based in Houston, Texas.