Veren (VRN) & Its Rivals Critical Review

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

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%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets 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 presently has a consensus target price of $15.00, indicating 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 possible upside, analysts clearly believe Veren is more favorable than its peers.

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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Veren and its peers 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.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

49.4% of Veren shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.3% of shares of all “Crude petroleum & natural gas” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Veren shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.4% of shares of all “Crude petroleum & natural gas” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

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.

Summary

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

About Veren

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.