Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM – Get Free Report) and Marine Petroleum Trust (NASDAQ:MARPS – Get Free Report) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.
Dividends
Viper Energy pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Marine Petroleum Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.7%. Viper Energy pays out 1,169.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Marine Petroleum Trust pays out 111.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Marine Petroleum Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
87.7% of Viper Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.8% of Marine Petroleum Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Viper Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Earnings & Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Viper Energy | $1.40 billion | 10.46 | -$68.00 million | $0.13 | 312.62 |
| Marine Petroleum Trust | $990,000.00 | 8.79 | $660,000.00 | $0.34 | 12.79 |
Marine Petroleum Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Viper Energy. Marine Petroleum Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Viper Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
Viper Energy has a beta of 0.5, suggesting that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marine Petroleum Trust has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Viper Energy and Marine Petroleum Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Viper Energy | 2.89% | 3.43% | 2.85% |
| Marine Petroleum Trust | 67.00% | 69.15% | 69.15% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Viper Energy and Marine Petroleum Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Viper Energy | 0 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 2.89 |
| Marine Petroleum Trust | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Viper Energy presently has a consensus price target of $56.93, suggesting a potential upside of 40.09%. Given Viper Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Viper Energy is more favorable than Marine Petroleum Trust.
Summary
Viper Energy beats Marine Petroleum Trust on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Viper Energy
Viper Energy, Inc. engages in the acquisition of oil and natural gas properties. It owns, acquires, and exploits oil and natural gas properties in North America. The company was founded on February 27, 2014 and is headquartered in Midland, TX.
About Marine Petroleum Trust
Marine Petroleum Trust, together with its subsidiary, Marine Petroleum Corporation, operates as a royalty trust in the United States. It has overriding royalty interest in oil and natural gas leases in the Central and Western areas of the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas. Marine Petroleum Trust was founded in 1956 and is based in Dallas, Texas.
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