Reviewing BKV (NYSE:BKV) & Sunoco (NYSE:SUN)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BKV	17.73%	6.67%	3.73%
Sunoco	2.88%	18.78%	4.29%

Risk & Volatility

BKV has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its share price is 13% more 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 and Insider Ownership

24.3% of Sunoco shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of BKV shares are held by 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for BKV and Sunoco, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BKV	0	1	8	2	3.09
Sunoco	0	1	8	1	3.00

BKV presently has a consensus target price of $33.67, suggesting a potential upside of 61.62%. Sunoco has a consensus target price of $79.75, suggesting a potential upside of 7.38%. Given BKV’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe BKV is more favorable than Sunoco.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares BKV and Sunoco”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BKV	$1.01 billion	2.26	$179.16 million	$2.74	7.60
Sunoco	$25.20 billion	0.60	$527.00 million	$4.52	16.43

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

About BKV

BKV Corporation engages in the acquisition, operation, and development of natural gas and NGL properties. It is also involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Denver, Colorado with additional offices in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania and Fort Worth, Texas. BKV Corporation, LLC operates as a subsidiary of Banpu North America Corporation.

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.