Analyzing Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) and Talos Energy (NYSE:TALO)

Talos Energy (NYSE:TALO) and Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Talos Energy and Viper Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Talos Energy	0	2	7	0	2.78
Viper Energy	0	0	11	0	3.00

Talos Energy presently has a consensus price target of $16.28, suggesting a potential upside of 65.68%. Viper Energy has a consensus price target of $58.27, suggesting a potential upside of 13.90%. Given Talos Energy’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Talos Energy is more favorable than Viper Energy.

Profitability

This table compares Talos Energy and Viper Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Talos Energy	3.95%	-1.98%	-0.86%
Viper Energy	24.65%	6.72%	4.98%

Risk and Volatility

Talos Energy has a beta of 1.92, indicating that its stock price is 92% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Viper Energy has a beta of 1.71, indicating that its stock price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

89.4% of Talos Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.7% of Viper Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Talos Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Viper Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Talos Energy and Viper Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Talos Energy	$1.46 billion	1.21	$187.33 million	$0.54	18.19
Viper Energy	$835.80 million	11.53	$200.09 million	$2.33	21.96

Viper Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Talos Energy. Talos Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Viper Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Viper Energy beats Talos Energy on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Talos Energy

Talos Energy Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States and Mexico. It also engages in the development of carbon capture and sequestration. Talos Energy Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Viper Energy

Viper Energy, Inc. owns and acquires mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin, North America. Viper Energy Partners GP LLC operates as the general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as Viper Energy Partners LP and changed its name to Viper Energy, Inc. in November 2023. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Midland, Texas. Viper Energy, Inc. is a subsidiary of Diamondback Energy, Inc.