Contrasting Whiting USA Trust II (OTCMKTS:WHZT) and Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE)

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) and Whiting USA Trust II (OTCMKTS:WHZT) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Cenovus Energy and Whiting USA Trust II, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cenovus Energy	0	1	5	0	2.83
Whiting USA Trust II	0	0	0	0	N/A

Cenovus Energy presently has a consensus target price of $30.75, suggesting a potential upside of 82.55%. Given Cenovus Energy’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Cenovus Energy is more favorable than Whiting USA Trust II.

Profitability

This table compares Cenovus Energy and Whiting USA Trust II’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cenovus Energy	8.56%	16.61%	8.73%
Whiting USA Trust II	N/A	1,607.92%	588.52%

Volatility and Risk

Cenovus Energy has a beta of 2.04, indicating that its stock price is 104% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Whiting USA Trust II has a beta of 1.54, indicating that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Cenovus Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.53 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Whiting USA Trust II pays an annual dividend of $0.65 per share and has a dividend yield of 405.2%. Cenovus Energy pays out 29.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

51.2% of Cenovus Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Cenovus Energy and Whiting USA Trust II”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cenovus Energy	$59.64 billion	0.53	$3.04 billion	$1.80	9.36
Whiting USA Trust II	$30.93 million	0.10	$270,000.00	N/A	N/A

Cenovus Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Whiting USA Trust II.

Summary

Cenovus Energy beats Whiting USA Trust II on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cenovus Energy

Cenovus Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, refines, transports, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and refined petroleum products in Canada and internationally. The company operates through Oil Sands, Conventional, Offshore, Canadian Refining, and U.S. Refining segments. The Oil Sands segment develops and produces bitumen and heavy oil in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. This segment assets include Foster Creek, Christina Lake, and Sunrise projects, as well as Lloydminster thermal and conventional heavy oil assets. The Conventional segment holds natural gas liquids and natural gas assets primarily located in Elmworth-Wapiti, Kaybob-Edson, Clearwater, and Rainbow Lake operating in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as interests in various natural gas processing facilities. The offshore segment engages in offshore operation, exploration, and development activities in China and the East Coast of Canada. The Canadian Refining segment owns and operates Lloydminster upgrading and asphalt refining complex, which converts heavy oil and bitumen into synthetic crude oil, diesel, asphalt, and other ancillary products, as well as Bruderheim crude-by-rail terminal and ethanol plants. The U.S. Refining segment refines crude oil to produce gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt, and other products. Cenovus Energy Inc. is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About Whiting USA Trust II

Whiting USA Trust II is a statutory trust. The company was founded on December 5, 2011 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.