Reviewing California Resources (NYSE:CRC) and Sundance Energy Australia (OTCMKTS:SDCJF)

Sundance Energy Australia (OTCMKTS:SDCJF) and California Resources (NYSE:CRC) 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.

Profitability

This table compares Sundance Energy Australia and California Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sundance Energy Australia	24.02%	13.45%	6.16%
California Resources	17.43%	12.16%	6.15%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.8% of California Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of California Resources 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Sundance Energy Australia and California Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sundance Energy Australia	0	0	0	0	0.00
California Resources	0	1	9	0	2.90

California Resources has a consensus target price of $65.50, indicating a potential upside of 12.70%. Given California Resources’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe California Resources is more favorable than Sundance Energy Australia.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sundance Energy Australia and California Resources”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sundance Energy Australia	$164.93 million	0.06	-$28.14 million	N/A	N/A
California Resources	$2.80 billion	1.41	$564.00 million	$6.35	9.15

California Resources has higher revenue and earnings than Sundance Energy Australia.

Volatility & Risk

Sundance Energy Australia has a beta of 3.96, indicating that its stock price is 296% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, California Resources has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

California Resources beats Sundance Energy Australia on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sundance Energy Australia

Sundance Energy Australia Limited operates as an onshore oil and gas company in the United States. The company explores for, develops, and produces oil and natural gas. Its exploration and development activities are focused on the Eagle Ford project in the South-Texas-Gulf Coast Basin. Sundance Energy Australia Limited was incorporated in 2004 and is based in Wayville, Australia.

About California Resources

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production, and carbon management company in the United States. The company explores, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities. It also engages in the generation and sale of electricity to the wholesale power market and utility sector; and developing various carbon capture and storage projects in California. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Long Beach, California.