Critical Analysis: Tourmaline Oil (OTCMKTS:TRMLF) & Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ:CLNE)

Tourmaline Oil (OTCMKTS:TRMLF) and Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ:CLNE) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Tourmaline Oil and Clean Energy Fuels’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tourmaline Oil	6.05%	9.05%	6.25%
Clean Energy Fuels	-21.27%	-16.52%	-8.87%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

1.8% of Tourmaline Oil shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.9% of Clean Energy Fuels shares are held by institutional investors. 4.1% of Clean Energy Fuels shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Tourmaline Oil has a beta of -0.24, suggesting that its share price is 124% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clean Energy Fuels has a beta of 1.82, suggesting that its share price is 82% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Tourmaline Oil and Clean Energy Fuels, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tourmaline Oil	0	6	4	1	2.55
Clean Energy Fuels	1	2	0	1	2.25

Tourmaline Oil presently has a consensus price target of $65.00, indicating a potential upside of 46.63%. Clean Energy Fuels has a consensus price target of $2.38, indicating a potential upside of 46.22%. Given Tourmaline Oil’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Tourmaline Oil is more favorable than Clean Energy Fuels.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Tourmaline Oil and Clean Energy Fuels”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tourmaline Oil	$4.72 billion	3.65	$187.99 million	$0.72	61.57
Clean Energy Fuels	$424.83 million	0.84	-$222.02 million	($0.44)	-3.70

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

Summary

Tourmaline Oil beats Clean Energy Fuels on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tourmaline Oil

Tourmaline Oil Corp. explores for and develops oil and natural gas properties in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. The company holds interests in properties located in the Alberta Deep Basin, Northeast British Columbia Montney, and the Peace River High Triassic oil complex. Tourmaline Oil Corp. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About Clean Energy Fuels

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. provides natural gas as alternative fuels for vehicle fleets and related fueling solutions in the United States and Canada. It supplies renewable natural gas (RNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for medium and heavy-duty vehicles; and offers operation and maintenance services for public and private vehicle fleet customer stations. The company also designs, builds, operates, and maintains vehicle fueling stations; and sells and services compressors and other equipment that are used in RNG production and fueling stations. In addition, it transports and sells CNG, RNG, and LNG through virtual natural gas pipelines and interconnects; sells U.S. federal, state, and local government credits, such as RNG as a vehicle fuel, including Renewable Identification Numbers and Low Carbon Fuel Standards credits; and obtains federal, state, and local credits, grants, and incentives. Further, the company focuses on developing, owning, and operating dairy and other livestock waste RNG projects. It serves heavy-duty trucking, airports, refuse, public transit, industrial, and institutional energy users, as well as government fleets. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.