Critical Review: TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) & Flex LNG (NYSE:FLNG)

Flex LNG (NYSE:FLNG) and TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Flex LNG and TotalEnergies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flex LNG	28.50%	14.88%	4.07%
TotalEnergies	8.29%	15.66%	6.35%

Dividends

Flex LNG pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.5%. TotalEnergies pays an annual dividend of $0.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Flex LNG pays out 157.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. TotalEnergies pays out 9.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Flex LNG and TotalEnergies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flex LNG	2	0	1	0	1.67
TotalEnergies	1	8	10	0	2.47

Flex LNG currently has a consensus price target of $25.00, suggesting a potential downside of 20.56%. TotalEnergies has a consensus price target of $88.50, suggesting a potential downside of 0.15%. Given TotalEnergies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe TotalEnergies is more favorable than Flex LNG.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

16.5% of TotalEnergies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Flex LNG shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Flex LNG and TotalEnergies”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flex LNG	$347.64 million	4.90	$74.82 million	$1.90	16.56
TotalEnergies	$201.20 billion	1.06	$13.13 billion	$7.99	11.09

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

Risk and Volatility

Flex LNG has a beta of 0.18, meaning that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TotalEnergies has a beta of 0.13, meaning that its share price is 87% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

TotalEnergies beats Flex LNG on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Flex LNG

FLEX LNG Ltd. engages in the seaborne transportation of liquefied natural gas (LPG) through the ownership and operation of LNG carriers. The company was founded by Philip Eystein Fjeld, Trym Tveitnes and Jostein Ueland in September 2006 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

About TotalEnergies

TotalEnergies SE, a multi-energy company, produces and markets oil and biofuels, natural gas, green gases, renewables, and electricity in France, rest of Europe, North America, Africa, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Exploration & Production, Integrated LNG, Integrated Power, Refining & Chemicals, and Marketing & Services. The Exploration & Production segment is involved in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas. The Integrated LNG segment comprises the integrated gas chain, including upstream and midstream liquified natural gas (LNG) activities, as well as biogas, hydrogen, and gas trading activities. The Integrated Power segment includes generation, storage, electricity trading, and B2B-B2C distribution of gas and electricity. The Refining & Chemicals segment consists of refining, petrochemicals, and specialty chemicals. This segment also includes oil supply, trading, and marine shipping activities. The Marketing & Services segment supplies and markets petroleum products. The company was formerly known as TOTAL SE and changed its name to TotalEnergies SE in June 2021. TotalEnergies SE was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Courbevoie, France.