Reviewing Crescent Energy (NYSE:CRGY) and Cosan (NYSE:CSAN)

Cosan (NYSE:CSAN) and Crescent Energy (NYSE:CRGY) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Cosan and Crescent Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cosan	$8.15 billion	0.28	-$1.75 billion	($1.48)	-3.25
Crescent Energy	$2.93 billion	0.85	-$114.61 million	($0.15)	-65.57

Crescent Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Cosan. Crescent Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cosan, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Cosan has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Crescent Energy has a beta of 1.77, meaning that its stock price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Cosan and Crescent Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cosan	1	4	1	0	2.00
Crescent Energy	2	3	7	1	2.54

Cosan currently has a consensus price target of $9.50, indicating a potential upside of 97.71%. Crescent Energy has a consensus price target of $15.11, indicating a potential upside of 53.65%. Given Cosan’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Cosan is more favorable than Crescent Energy.

Profitability

This table compares Cosan and Crescent Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cosan	-32.24%	-34.75%	-9.59%
Crescent Energy	0.66%	11.77%	4.69%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

52.1% of Crescent Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.2% of Crescent Energy shares are owned by company 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.

Summary

Crescent Energy beats Cosan on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cosan

Cosan S.A. engages in the fuel distribution business. It operates through Raízen, Compass, Moove, Rumo, and Radar segments. The company’s Raízen segment engages in the production, commercialization, origination, and trading of ethanol, bioenergy, renewable sources, and sugar; trading and resale of electricity; and distribution and commercialization of fuels and lubricants. Its Compass segment distributes piped natural gas to industrial, residential, commercial, automotive, and cogeneration customers; and develops infrastructure projects in a regasification terminal, offshore gas pipeline, and thermal generation projects utilizing natural gas, as well as commercialization of electricity and natural gas. The company’s Moove segment produces and distributes lubricants under the Comma brand. Its Rumo segment provides logistics services for rail transportation, port storage, and loading of goods, including grains and sugar; and leases locomotives, wagons, and another railroad equipment, as well as operates containers. The company’s Radar segment manages agricultural property. It operates in Brazil, England, France, Spain and Portugal, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay, the United States, Asia, and internationally. Cosan S.A. was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.

About Crescent Energy

Crescent Energy Company acquires, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs) reserves. Its portfolio of assets comprises mid-cycle unconventional and conventional assets in the Eagle Ford and Uinta Basins. It also owns and operates various midstream assets, which provide services to customers. The company is based in Houston, Texas.