Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) vs. Vitesse Energy (NYSE:VTS) Critical Analysis

Vitesse Energy (NYSE:VTS) and Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Dividends

Vitesse Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.6%. Berry pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.8%. Vitesse Energy pays out 238.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Berry pays out 4,800.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Vitesse Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Vitesse Energy and Berry, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vitesse Energy	0	0	3	0	3.00
Berry	0	2	0	0	2.00

Vitesse Energy presently has a consensus price target of $28.50, suggesting a potential upside of 21.90%. Berry has a consensus price target of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 29.45%. Given Berry’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Berry is more favorable than Vitesse Energy.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vitesse Energy	10.92%	7.87%	5.77%
Berry	0.41%	6.15%	2.84%

Volatility & Risk

Vitesse Energy has a beta of 0.33, suggesting that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Berry has a beta of 1.74, suggesting that its stock price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Vitesse Energy and Berry’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vitesse Energy	$233.90 million	2.94	-$19.74 million	$0.84	27.83
Berry	$903.46 million	0.53	$37.40 million	$0.01	618.00

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

51.6% of Vitesse Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of Berry shares are held by institutional investors. 15.8% of Vitesse Energy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Berry shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Vitesse Energy beats Berry on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Berry

Berry Petroleum Company, LLC., formerly Berry Petroleum Company, is an independent energy company. The Company is engaged in the production, development, exploitation, and acquisition of oil and natural gas. The Company’s principal reserves and producing properties are located in California (South Midway-Sunset (SMWSS)-Steam Floods, North Midway-Sunset (NMWSS)-Diatomite, NMWSS-New Steam Floods, Texas (Permian and E. Texas), Utah (Uinta) and Colorado (Piceance). The Company’s operations are conducted in the continental United States. In December 2013, Linn Energy LLC and Linn Co, LLC (Linn Co) announced the completion of the merger between LinnCo and Berry Petroleum Company (Berry), where LinnCo had acquired all of Berry’s interest.