Comparing Permianville Royalty Trust (NYSE:PVL) and Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC)

Permianville Royalty Trust (NYSE:PVL) and Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Permianville Royalty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Ecopetrol pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 18.9%. Permianville Royalty Trust pays out 16.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ecopetrol pays out 94.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Volatility and Risk

Permianville Royalty Trust has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ecopetrol has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

6.8% of Permianville Royalty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Permianville Royalty Trust and Ecopetrol, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Permianville Royalty Trust	0	0	0	0	N/A
Ecopetrol	2	4	0	0	1.67

Ecopetrol has a consensus price target of $11.27, suggesting a potential downside of 3.25%. Given Ecopetrol’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ecopetrol is more favorable than Permianville Royalty Trust.

Profitability

This table compares Permianville Royalty Trust and Ecopetrol’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Permianville Royalty Trust	31.22%	24.89%	24.89%
Ecopetrol	14.69%	66.73%	23.50%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Permianville Royalty Trust and Ecopetrol’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Permianville Royalty Trust	$10.35 million	5.29	$10.60 million	$0.43	3.86
Ecopetrol	$171.83 billion	N/A	$25.27 billion	$2.33	5.00

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

Summary

Ecopetrol beats Permianville Royalty Trust on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Permianville Royalty Trust

Permianville Royalty Trust operates as a statutory trust. It is involved in the acquisition and holding of net profits interest representing the right to receive 80% of the net profits from the sale of oil and natural gas production from properties located in the states of Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico. The company was formerly known as Enduro Royalty Trust and changed its name to Permianville Royalty Trust in September 2018. Permianville Royalty Trust was incorporated in 2011 and is based in Houston, Texas.

About Ecopetrol

Ecopetrol S.A. operates as an integrated energy company. The company operates through four segments: Exploration and Production; Transport and Logistics; Refining, Petrochemical and Biofuels; and Electric Power Transmission and Toll Roads Concessions. It engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas; transportation of crude oil, motor fuels, fuel oil, and other refined products, including diesel, jet, and biofuels; processing and refining crude oil; distribution of natural gas and LPG; sale of refined and petrochemical products; supplying of electric power transmission services; design, development, construction, operation, and maintenance of road and energy infrastructure projects; and supplying of information technology and telecommunications services. As of December 31, 2022, the company had approximately 9,127 kilometers of crude oil and multi-purpose pipelines. It also produces and commercializes polypropylene resins and compounds, and masterbatches; and offers industrial service sales to customers and specialized management services. It has operations in Colombia, the United States, Asia, Central America and the Caribbean, Europe, and South America. The company was formerly known as Empresa Colombiana de Petróleos and changed its name to Ecopetrol S.A. in June 2003. Ecopetrol S.A. was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Bogotá, Colombia.