Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) versus Dorchester Minerals (NASDAQ:DMLP) Critical Analysis

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) and Dorchester Minerals (NASDAQ:DMLP) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Green Plains has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dorchester Minerals has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Green Plains and Dorchester Minerals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Green Plains	10.87%	23.31%	12.06%
Dorchester Minerals	49.84%	34.73%	33.86%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Green Plains and Dorchester Minerals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Green Plains	0	3	2	1	2.67
Dorchester Minerals	0	1	0	0	2.00

Green Plains presently has a consensus price target of $18.75, indicating a potential upside of 40.77%. Given Green Plains’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Green Plains is more favorable than Dorchester Minerals.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Green Plains and Dorchester Minerals”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Green Plains	$2.09 billion	0.45	-$121.28 million	$2.45	5.44
Dorchester Minerals	$152.83 million	9.47	$55.25 million	$2.07	13.89

Dorchester Minerals has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Green Plains. Green Plains is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Dorchester Minerals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

19.2% of Dorchester Minerals shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Green Plains shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Dorchester Minerals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Dorchester Minerals beats Green Plains on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Green Plains

Green Plains Inc. is a U.S. agribusiness and renewable fuels company that produces low-carbon biofuels and agricultural ingredients. Founded in 2004, the company operates biorefineries primarily in the Midwest, where corn is processed into fuel-grade ethanol and related products. Its co-products include distillers grains, which are used in animal feed, and corn oil, which can be used in feed and renewable fuel applications. Green Plains also works to improve the efficiency and environmental performance of its production processes and develop higher-value ingredients from agricultural materials.

About Dorchester Minerals

Dorchester Minerals, L.P. is a publicly traded limited partnership that owns oil and natural gas mineral and royalty interests. The partnership also holds overriding royalty and net profits interests in producing and undeveloped properties. Dorchester generally does not drill or operate wells. Instead, it leases its mineral interests to exploration and production companies, which develop the properties; Dorchester receives royalties and other payments tied to production and applicable agreements.