Financial Comparison: Vitesse Energy (NYSE:VTS) versus Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

92.0% of Matador Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.6% of Vitesse Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.8% of Matador Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.2% of Vitesse Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Matador Resources and Vitesse Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Matador Resources	0	4	10	1	2.80
Vitesse Energy	0	4	2	0	2.33

Matador Resources presently has a consensus target price of $57.82, suggesting a potential upside of 13.03%. Vitesse Energy has a consensus target price of $24.50, suggesting a potential upside of 9.69%. Given Matador Resources’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Matador Resources is more favorable than Vitesse Energy.

Dividends

Matador Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Vitesse Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.1%. Matador Resources pays out 24.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vitesse Energy pays out 450.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Matador Resources has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Vitesse Energy has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Matador Resources	20.46%	14.80%	7.48%
Vitesse Energy	7.70%	5.71%	3.87%

Volatility and Risk

Matador Resources has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vitesse Energy has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Matador Resources and Vitesse Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Matador Resources	$3.50 billion	1.81	$885.32 million	$6.26	8.17
Vitesse Energy	$271.30 million	3.18	$21.06 million	$0.50	44.67

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

Summary

Matador Resources beats Vitesse Energy on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Matador Resources

Matador Resources Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production; and Midstream. The company primarily holds interests in the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas. It also operates the Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas; and the Haynesville shale and Cotton Valley plays in Northwest Louisiana. In addition, the company conducts midstream operations in support of its exploration, development, and production operations. Further, it provides natural gas processing and oil transportation services; and oil, natural gas, and produced water gathering services, as well as produced water disposal services to third parties. The company sells natural gas to unaffiliated independent marketing companies and unaffiliated midstream companies. The company was formerly known as Matador Holdco, Inc. and changed its name to Matador Resources Company in August 2011. Matador Resources Company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

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.