Critical Comparison: OPAL Fuels (NASDAQ:OPAL) and Sunoco (NYSE:SUN)

OPAL Fuels (NASDAQ:OPAL) and Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares OPAL Fuels and Sunoco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OPAL Fuels	0.65%	15.54%	0.22%
Sunoco	2.88%	18.78%	4.29%

Risk and Volatility

OPAL Fuels has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sunoco has a beta of 0.43, suggesting that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

12.2% of OPAL Fuels shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.3% of Sunoco shares are owned by institutional investors. 85.7% of OPAL Fuels shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for OPAL Fuels and Sunoco, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OPAL Fuels	2	1	0	0	1.33
Sunoco	0	1	8	1	3.00

OPAL Fuels presently has a consensus target price of $2.40, indicating a potential upside of 59.05%. Sunoco has a consensus target price of $79.75, indicating a potential upside of 8.08%. Given OPAL Fuels’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe OPAL Fuels is more favorable than Sunoco.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares OPAL Fuels and Sunoco”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
OPAL Fuels	$348.98 million	0.76	$14.75 million	($0.01)	-150.90
Sunoco	$25.20 billion	0.60	$527.00 million	$4.52	16.32

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

Summary

Sunoco beats OPAL Fuels on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About OPAL Fuels

OPAL Fuels Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and distribution of renewable natural gas for use as a vehicle fuel for heavy and medium-duty trucking fleets. It also designs, develops, constructs, operates, and services fueling stations for trucking fleets that use natural gas to displace diesel as transportation fuel. In addition, it offers design, development, and construction services for hydrogen fueling stations. Further, the company engages in the generation and sale of renewable power to utilities. OPAL Fuels Inc. is based in White Plains, New York.

About Sunoco

Sunoco LP, together with its subsidiaries, distributes and retails motor fuels in the United States. It operates through two segments: Fuel Distribution and Marketing, and All Other. The Fuel Distribution and Marketing segment purchases motor fuel, as well as other petroleum products, such as propane and lubricating oil from independent refiners and oil companies and supplies it to company-operated retail stores, independently operated commission agents, and retail stores, as well as other commercial customers, including unbranded retail stores, other fuel distributors, school districts, municipalities, and other industrial customers. It owns and operates retail stores under the APlus and Aloha Island Mart brand names; and offers food, beverages, snacks, grocery and non-food merchandise, motor fuels, and other services. The All Other segment includes partnership credit card services, franchise royalties, and retail operations; and offers credit card processing, car washes, lottery, automated teller machines, money order, prepaid phone cards, and wireless services. The company was formerly known as Susser Petroleum Partners LP and changed its name to Sunoco LP in 2014. Sunoco LP was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.