Shell (NYSE:SHEL) and Sable Offshore (NYSE:SOC) Head to Head Contrast

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) and Sable Offshore (NYSE:SOC) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, earnings and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

28.6% of Shell shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.2% of Sable Offshore shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Shell shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 14.3% of Sable Offshore shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Shell and Sable Offshore’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shell	$323.18 billion	0.72	$19.36 billion	$5.66	12.74
Sable Offshore	N/A	N/A	-$32.18 million	N/A	N/A

Shell has higher revenue and earnings than Sable Offshore.

Volatility & Risk

Shell has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sable Offshore has a beta of 0.03, indicating that its share price is 97% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Shell and Sable Offshore’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shell	5.99%	14.69%	6.79%
Sable Offshore	N/A	N/A	-42.39%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Shell and Sable Offshore, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shell	0	2	1	0	2.33
Sable Offshore	0	0	1	0	3.00

Shell presently has a consensus price target of $67.00, suggesting a potential downside of 7.05%. Sable Offshore has a consensus price target of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 92.49%. Given Sable Offshore’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sable Offshore is more favorable than Shell.

Summary

Shell beats Sable Offshore on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Shell

Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and Rest of the Americas. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure to deliver gas to market. The company also markets and trades natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude oil, electricity, carbon-emission rights; and markets and sells LNG as a fuel for heavy-duty vehicles. In addition, it trades in and refines crude oil and other feed stocks, such as low-carbon fuels, lubricants, bitumen, sulphur, gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and marine fuel; produces and sells petrochemicals for industrial use; and manages oil sands activities. Further, the company produces base chemicals comprising ethylene, propylene, and aromatics, as well as intermediate chemicals, such as styrene monomer, propylene oxide, solvents, detergent alcohols, ethylene oxide, and ethylene glycol. Additionally, it generates electricity through wind and solar resources; produces and sells hydrogen; and provides electric vehicle charging services. The company was formerly known as Royal Dutch Shell plc and changed its name to Shell plc in January 2022. Shell plc was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Sable Offshore

Sable Offshore Corp. engages in the oil and gas exploration and development activities in the United States. It operates through three platforms located offshore California and an onshore processing facility comprised of 16 federal leases across approximately 76,000 acres. The company was formerly known as Flame Acquisition Corp. and changed its name to Sable Offshore Corp. in February 2024. Sable Offshore Corp. was incorporated in 2020 and is based in Houston, Texas.