Contrasting China Coal Energy (OTCMKTS:CCOZY) and Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC)

China Coal Energy (OTCMKTS:CCOZY) and Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) are both large-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

China Coal Energy has a beta of -0.31, indicating that its share price is 131% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marathon Petroleum has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

China Coal Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.85 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Marathon Petroleum pays an annual dividend of $4.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. China Coal Energy pays out 21.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Marathon Petroleum pays out 13.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Marathon Petroleum has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares China Coal Energy and Marathon Petroleum’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
China Coal Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A
Marathon Petroleum	5.48%	31.96%	8.88%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares China Coal Energy and Marathon Petroleum”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
China Coal Energy	$20.59 billion	0.95	$2.02 billion	$3.98	7.43
Marathon Petroleum	$135.22 billion	0.85	$4.05 billion	$29.09	13.50

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

76.8% of Marathon Petroleum shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Marathon Petroleum shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for China Coal Energy and Marathon Petroleum, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
China Coal Energy	0	0	0	1	4.00
Marathon Petroleum	0	4	12	1	2.82

Marathon Petroleum has a consensus target price of $330.50, suggesting a potential downside of 15.82%. Given Marathon Petroleum’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Marathon Petroleum is more favorable than China Coal Energy.

Summary

Marathon Petroleum beats China Coal Energy on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About China Coal Energy

China Coal Energy Company Limited primarily engages in the coal production and trading and coal chemical businesses in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company offers polyolefin, methanol, urea, and other coal chemical products. It is also involved in the coal mining equipment manufacturing, pithead power generation, and other activities. The company was founded in 2006 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. China Coal Energy Company Limited operates as a subsidiary of China National Coal Group Co., Ltd.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Refining & Marketing, and Midstream segments. The Refining & Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions of the United States; and purchases refined products and ethanol for resale and distributes refined products, including renewable diesel, through transportation, storage, distribution, and marketing services. Its refined products include transportation fuels, such as reformulated gasolines and blend-grade gasolines; heavy fuel oil; and asphalt. This segment also manufactures propane and petrochemicals. It sells refined products to wholesale marketing customers in the United States and internationally, buyers on the spot market, and independent entrepreneurs who operate primarily Marathon branded outlets, as well as through long-term fuel supply contracts to direct dealer locations primarily under the ARCO brand. The Midstream segment transports, stores, distributes, and markets crude oil and refined products through refining logistics assets, pipelines, terminals, towboats, and barges; gathers, processes, and transports natural gas; and gathers, transports, fractionates, stores, and markets natural gas liquids. Marathon Petroleum Corporation was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Findlay, Ohio.