Analyzing Mesa Royalty Trust (NYSE:MTR) and Global Partners (NYSE:GLP)

Mesa Royalty Trust (NYSE:MTR) and Global Partners (NYSE:GLP) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Mesa Royalty Trust and Global Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mesa Royalty Trust	1	0	0	0	1.00
Global Partners	0	2	1	0	2.33

Global Partners has a consensus price target of $46.00, suggesting a potential downside of 12.16%. Given Global Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Global Partners is more favorable than Mesa Royalty Trust.

Profitability

This table compares Mesa Royalty Trust and Global Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mesa Royalty Trust	60.59%	9.17%	8.82%
Global Partners	0.91%	30.87%	4.92%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mesa Royalty Trust and Global Partners”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mesa Royalty Trust	$600,000.00	8.00	$510,000.00	$0.16	16.12
Global Partners	$18.56 billion	0.10	$79.22 million	$4.91	10.66

Global Partners has higher revenue and earnings than Mesa Royalty Trust. Global Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mesa Royalty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Mesa Royalty Trust has a beta of 0.41, meaning that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Partners has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

12.7% of Mesa Royalty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.1% of Global Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 41.5% of Global Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Global Partners beats Mesa Royalty Trust on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mesa Royalty Trust

Mesa Royalty Trust owns overriding royalty interests in various oil and gas producing properties in the United States. It holds interests in properties located in the Hugoton field of Kansas; and the San Juan Basin field of Northwestern New Mexico and Southwestern Colorado. The company was founded in 1979 and is based in Houston, Texas.

About Global Partners

Global Partners LP engages in the purchasing, selling, gathering, blending, storing, and logistics of transporting gasoline and gasoline blendstocks, distillates, residual oil, renewable fuels, crude oil, and propane to wholesalers, retailers, and commercial customers. The company operates through three segments: Wholesale, Gasoline Distribution and Station Operations, and Commercial. The Wholesale segment sells home heating oil, branded and unbranded gasoline and gasoline blendstocks, diesel, kerosene, and residual oil to home heating oil and propane retailers and wholesale distributors. This segment also transports the products by railcars, barges, trucks and/or pipelines. Its Gasoline Distribution and Station Operations segment sells branded and unbranded gasoline to gasoline station operators and sub-jobbers; operates gasoline stations and convenience stores; and provides car wash, lottery, and ATM services, as well as leases gasoline stations. The Commercial segment sells and delivers unbranded gasoline, home heating oil, diesel, kerosene, residual oil, and bunker fuel to customers in the public sector, as well as to commercial and industrial end-users; and sells custom blended fuels. The company is also involved in the transportation of petroleum products and renewable fuels through rail from the mid-continent region of the United States and Canada. Global Partners LP was founded in 2005 and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts.