Critical Analysis: YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) vs. Origin Energy (OTCMKTS:OGFGY)

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) and Origin Energy (OTCMKTS:OGFGY) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Dividends

YPF Sociedad Anónima pays an annual dividend of $0.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Origin Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.5%. YPF Sociedad Anónima pays out -5.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Origin Energy pays out 88.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares YPF Sociedad Anónima and Origin Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
YPF Sociedad Anónima	$17.66 billion	0.51	-$1.31 billion	($2.56)	-8.92
Origin Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.48	13.49

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

Profitability

This table compares YPF Sociedad Anónima and Origin Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
YPF Sociedad Anónima	-4.57%	22.86%	8.78%
Origin Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

10.1% of YPF Sociedad Anónima 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for YPF Sociedad Anónima and Origin Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
YPF Sociedad Anónima	0	5	2	0	2.29
Origin Energy	0	0	0	0	N/A

YPF Sociedad Anónima currently has a consensus target price of $24.77, suggesting a potential upside of 8.48%. Given YPF Sociedad Anónima’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe YPF Sociedad Anónima is more favorable than Origin Energy.

Summary

YPF Sociedad Anónima beats Origin Energy on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About YPF Sociedad Anónima

YPF Sociedad Anónima, an energy company, engages in the oil and gas upstream and downstream activities in Argentina. Its upstream operations include the exploration, exploitation, and production of crude oil, and natural gas. The company’s downstream operations include petrochemical production and crude oil refining; transportation and distribution refined and petrochemical products; commercialization of crude oil, petrochemical products, and specialties. Its gas and power operations include transportation, commercialization, and distribution of natural gas; operation of regasification terminals; conditioning, processing, and separation of natural gas; and power generation. The company had interests in oil and gas fields. It also had a retail distribution network and retail service stations. In addition, the company owns and operates refineries, as well as maintains terminal facilities Argentine ports. Further, it participates in power generation plants; offers diesel, fertilizers, lubricants, phytosanitary products, and ensiling bags; and supplies diesel, gasoline, fuel oil, coal, asphalts, paraffin, and sulfur, CO2, decanted oil, and aromatic extract. The company was incorporated in 1977 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

About Origin Energy

Origin Energy Limited, an integrated energy company, engages in the exploration and production of natural gas, electricity generation, wholesale and retail sale of electricity and gas, and sale of liquefied natural gas in Australia and internationally. The company operates through, Energy Markets, Integrated Gas, and Corporate segments. Its exploration and production portfolio includes the Bowen and Surat basins in Queensland; the Browse basin in Western Australia; and the Beetaloo basin in the Northern Territory. The company also generates electricity from coal, wind, pumped water storage, solar, and cogeneration plants; sells electricity, natural gas, and LPG; provides GreenPower and green gas products; and supplies LPG to residentials and businesses. In addition, it offers electric and gas hot water systems; split system air conditioners; ducted and space heating solutions; ducted evaporative cooling systems; and ducted reverse cycle air conditioning systems. Origin Energy Limited was incorporated in 1946 and is based in Barangaroo, Australia.