Financial Survey: Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) vs. Mexco Energy (NYSE:MXC)

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) and Mexco Energy (NYSE:MXC) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

Range Resources has a beta of 1.83, indicating that its share price is 83% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mexco Energy has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Range Resources and Mexco Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Range Resources	25.82%	15.87%	7.96%
Mexco Energy	28.37%	11.61%	10.91%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Range Resources and Mexco Energy’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Range Resources	$3.37 billion	2.47	$871.14 million	$3.54	9.73
Mexco Energy	$9.56 million	2.19	$4.66 million	$0.90	11.09

Range Resources has higher revenue and earnings than Mexco Energy. Range Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mexco Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Range Resources and Mexco Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Range Resources	3	9	6	0	2.17
Mexco Energy	0	0	0	0	N/A

Range Resources currently has a consensus price target of $34.89, suggesting a potential upside of 1.35%. Given Range Resources’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Range Resources is more favorable than Mexco Energy.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.9% of Range Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.9% of Mexco Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Range Resources shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 51.0% of Mexco Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Range Resources beats Mexco Energy on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Range Resources

Range Resources Corporation operates as an independent natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, and condensate company in the United States. The company engages in the exploration, development, and acquisition of natural gas and crude oil properties located in the Appalachian region. It sells natural gas to utilities, marketing and midstream companies, and industrial users; NGLs to petrochemical end users, marketers/traders, and natural gas processors; and oil and condensate to crude oil processors, transporters, and refining and marketing companies. The company was formerly known as Lomak Petroleum Inc. and changed its name to Range Resources Corporation in August 1998. Range Resources Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

About Mexco Energy

Mexco Energy Corporation, an independent oil and gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of natural gas, crude oil, condensate, and natural gas liquids in the United States. It owns partial interests in approximately 6,400 gross producing wells located in the states of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Wyoming, Kansas, Colorado, Montana, Virginia, North Dakota, and Ohio. It also owned leasehold mineral, royalty, and other interests in approximately 2,768 net acres. The company was formerly known as Miller Oil Company and changed its name to Mexco Energy Corporation in April 1980. Mexco Energy Corporation was incorporated in 1972 and is based in Midland, Texas.