Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) & Woodside Energy Group (NYSE:WDS) Head-To-Head Contrast

Woodside Energy Group (NYSE:WDS) and Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and profitability.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Woodside Energy Group and Vital Energy’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Woodside Energy Group	$13.99 billion	1.24	$1.66 billion	N/A	N/A
Vital Energy	$1.84 billion	0.73	$695.08 million	$24.13	1.51

Woodside Energy Group has higher revenue and earnings than Vital Energy.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Woodside Energy Group and Vital Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Woodside Energy Group	1	2	0	1	2.25
Vital Energy	3	4	4	0	2.09

Vital Energy has a consensus target price of $55.82, indicating a potential upside of 52.97%. Given Vital Energy’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Vital Energy is more favorable than Woodside Energy Group.

Profitability

This table compares Woodside Energy Group and Vital Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Woodside Energy Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Vital Energy	30.34%	14.22%	6.69%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

3.2% of Woodside Energy Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.5% of Vital Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Woodside Energy Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Vital Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Woodside Energy Group has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vital Energy has a beta of 3.22, indicating that its stock price is 222% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Vital Energy beats Woodside Energy Group on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Woodside Energy Group

Woodside Energy Group Ltd engages in the exploration, evaluation, development, production, and marketing of hydrocarbons in the Asia Pacific, Africa, the Americas, and the Europe. The company produces liquefied natural gas, pipeline gas, crude oil and condensate, and natural gas liquids. It holds interests in the Pluto LNG, North West Shelf, Wheatstone and Julimar-Brunello, Bass Strait, Ngujima-Yin FPSO, Okha FPSO, Pyrenees FPSO, Macedon, Shenzi, Mad dog, Greater Angostura, as well as Scarborough, Sangomar, Trion, Calypso, Browse, Liard, Atlantis, Woodside Solar opportunity, and Sunrise and Troubadour. The company involves in development of new energy products and carbon services. The company was formerly known as Woodside Petroleum Ltd and changed its name to Woodside Energy Group Ltd in May 2022. Woodside Energy Group Ltd was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Perth, Australia.

About Vital Energy

Vital Energy, Inc., an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin of West Texas, the United States. The company was formerly known as Laredo Petroleum, Inc. and changed its name to Vital Energy, Inc. in January 2023. Vital Energy, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.