Head-To-Head Contrast: PetroQuest Energy (OTCMKTS:PQUE) & ENI (NYSE:E)

PetroQuest Energy (OTCMKTS:PQUE) and ENI (NYSE:E) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

PetroQuest Energy has a beta of 1.56, suggesting that its stock price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ENI has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for PetroQuest Energy and ENI, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PetroQuest Energy	0	0	0	0	N/A
ENI	0	2	1	0	2.33

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares PetroQuest Energy and ENI’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PetroQuest Energy	$108.29 million	0.00	-$6.63 million	($0.55)	-0.04
ENI	$102.67 billion	0.52	$5.16 billion	$2.32	13.67

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.6% of PetroQuest Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.2% of ENI shares are held by institutional investors. 8.8% of PetroQuest Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of ENI shares are held by insiders. 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.

Profitability

This table compares PetroQuest Energy and ENI’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PetroQuest Energy	-4.93%	N/A	-3.76%
ENI	3.95%	12.57%	4.88%

Summary

ENI beats PetroQuest Energy on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PetroQuest Energy

PetroQuest Energy, Inc. operates as an independent oil and gas company in Texas and Louisiana. The company acquires, explores for, develops, and operates oil and gas properties. As of December 31, 2017, it had estimated proved reserves of 1.8 million barrels of oil; 19.4 billion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas liquids; and 125.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas. PetroQuest Energy, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.

About ENI

Eni S.p.A. operates as an integrated energy company worldwide. The company engages in exploration, development, extracting, manufacturing, and marketing crude oil and natural gas, oil-based fuels, chemical products, and gas-fired power, as well as energy products from renewable sources. It operates through Exploration & Production; Global Gas & LNG Portfolio (GGP); Enilive, Refining and Chemicals; Plenitude & Power; and Corporate and Other Activities segments. The company engages in research, development, and production of oil, condensates, and natural gas. It is also involved in the supply and sale of wholesale natural gas through pipeline; and international transport, and purchase and marketing of liquefied natural gas. In addition, the company supplies bio-feedstock and crude oil; and stores, produces, distributes, and markets biofuels, oil products, biomethane, basic chemical and petrochemical products, intermediates, plastics and elastomers, and other chemicals, as well as provides smart mobility solutions and mobility services. Further, it engages in the retail marketing of gas, electricity, and related services; production and wholesale sale of electricity from thermoelectric and renewable plants; and provision of services for E-mobility. The company was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Rome, Italy.