Critical Comparison: Veren (VRN) and The Competition

Veren (NYSE:VRN) is one of 281 public companies in the “Crude petroleum & natural gas” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Veren to similar businesses based on the strength of its risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

Veren has a beta of 2.14, meaning that its stock price is 114% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Veren’s peers have a beta of -12.85, meaning that their average stock price is 1,385% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

49.4% of Veren shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.3% of shares of all “Crude petroleum & natural gas” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Veren shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.4% of shares of all “Crude petroleum & natural gas” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Veren and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Veren	$4.28 billion	$422.48 million	-82.75
Veren Competitors	$719.56 billion	$1.06 billion	16.98

Veren’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Veren. Veren is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Veren and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Veren	0	0	1	0	3.00
Veren Competitors	2140	11560	16172	609	2.50

Veren currently has a consensus price target of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 126.59%. As a group, “Crude petroleum & natural gas” companies have a potential upside of 20.60%. Given Veren’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Veren is more favorable than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Veren and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Veren	-0.69%	13.50%	7.39%
Veren Competitors	-2.39%	7.79%	6.87%

Dividends

Veren pays an annual dividend of $0.33 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Veren pays out -412.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Crude petroleum & natural gas” companies pay a dividend yield of 10.6% and pay out 115.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Veren beats its peers on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

Veren Company Profile

Veren Inc. explores, develops, and produces oil and gas properties in Canada and the United States. The company focuses on crude oil, tight oil, natural gas liquids, shale gas, and natural gas reserves. Its properties are located in the provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and Manitoba; and the states of North Dakota. The company was formerly known as Crescent Point Energy Corp. and changed its name to Veren Inc. in May 2024. Veren Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.