ConocoPhillips vs VALERO ENERGY CORP/TX, two Oil & Gas Refining stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
ConocoPhillips earns 11.3% on equity producing crude; Valero earns 15.6% refining it, and per asset dollar Conoco leads, 6% against 6.8%... a near-tie, actually, with Valero ahead. The two are natural hedges, upstream price exposure against downstream margin exposure, which is why energy portfolios hold both. Conoco pays the bigger dividend, 3% against 1.7%, and converts far more of its price to cash, 13.9% against 7%. Both run near-zero debt. The multiples sit close, 17.9 and 19 times. The pair is the classic barrel split priced almost identically; a buyer picks whether to own the commodity's price or its processing spread, and the market currently charges about the same for each.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | COP | VLO |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $105.80 | $259.41 |
| Market cap | $129.6B | $77.3B |
| Sector | Oil & Gas Refining | Oil & Gas Refining |
| Stage | Cyclical | Cyclical |
| Implied growth (priced in) | — | +9.4% |
| P/E | 17.9 | 18.9 |
| P/B | 2.01 | 2.87 |
| P/S | 2.23 | 0.62 |
| EV/EBITDA | 10.7 | 8.9 |
| Revenue growth | +1.9% | -2.4% |
| Operating margin | — | 5.3% |
| Net margin | 12.6% | 3.4% |
| Return on equity | 11.3% | 15.6% |
| Return on assets | 6.0% | 6.8% |
| Return on invested capital | — | 15.9% |
| FCF yield | 13.9% | 7.0% |
| Dividend yield | 3.0% | 1.7% |
| Debt / equity | 0.02 | 0.04 |
| Current ratio | 1.29 | 1.58 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 2.64 | 9.40 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 8 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.