Head to Head Review: Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) vs. Prairie Operating (NASDAQ:PROP)

Prairie Operating (NASDAQ:PROP) and Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

Prairie Operating has a beta of 1.93, suggesting that its share price is 93% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ecopetrol has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Prairie Operating and Ecopetrol, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Prairie Operating	0	0	0	0	N/A
Ecopetrol	3	3	0	0	1.50

Ecopetrol has a consensus target price of $11.27, suggesting a potential downside of 4.68%. Given Ecopetrol’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ecopetrol is more favorable than Prairie Operating.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

34.3% of Prairie Operating shares are held by institutional investors. 42.0% of Prairie Operating 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Prairie Operating and Ecopetrol’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Prairie Operating	$1.55 million	88.16	-$79.08 million	N/A	N/A
Ecopetrol	$33.22 billion	N/A	$25.27 billion	$2.30	5.14

Ecopetrol has higher revenue and earnings than Prairie Operating.

Profitability

This table compares Prairie Operating and Ecopetrol’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Prairie Operating	N/A	-1,088.01%	-159.22%
Ecopetrol	14.35%	8.82%	3.15%

Summary

Ecopetrol beats Prairie Operating on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Prairie Operating

Prairie Operating Co., an independent energy company, engages in the development, exploration, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company holds assets in the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Colorado; and the Niobrara and Codell formations. Prairie Operating Co. 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.