Reviewing Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) and Mesa Royalty Trust (NYSE:MTR)

Mesa Royalty Trust (NYSE:MTR) and Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

12.7% of Mesa Royalty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.5% of Equinor ASA shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Equinor ASA shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Mesa Royalty Trust has a beta of 0.41, meaning that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equinor ASA has a beta of 0.13, meaning that its share price is 87% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Mesa Royalty Trust and Equinor ASA”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mesa Royalty Trust	$600,000.00	6.43	$510,000.00	$0.16	12.97
Equinor ASA	$106.46 billion	1.04	$5.04 billion	$3.67	12.63

Equinor ASA has higher revenue and earnings than Mesa Royalty Trust. Equinor ASA 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Mesa Royalty Trust and Equinor ASA, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mesa Royalty Trust	1	0	0	0	1.00
Equinor ASA	3	11	3	2	2.21

Equinor ASA has a consensus target price of $43.47, indicating a potential downside of 6.25%. Given Equinor ASA’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Equinor ASA is more favorable than Mesa Royalty Trust.

Profitability

This table compares Mesa Royalty Trust and Equinor ASA’s 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%
Equinor ASA	7.92%	23.60%	7.21%

Summary

Equinor ASA beats Mesa Royalty Trust on 9 of the 15 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 Equinor ASA

Equinor ASA, an energy company, engages in the exploration, production, transportation, refining, and marketing of petroleum and other forms of energy in Norway and internationally. It operates through Exploration & Production Norway; Exploration & Production International; Exploration & Production USA; Marketing, Midstream & Processing; Renewables; and Other segments. The company also transports, processes, manufactures, markets, and trades in oil and gas commodities, such as crude and condensate products, gas liquids, natural gas, and liquefied natural gas; trades in power and emissions; operates refineries, terminals and processing, and power plants; and develops low carbon solutions for oil and gas. In addition, it develops carbon capture and storage projects; provides transportation solutions, including pipelines, shipping, trucking, and rail; and develops and explores for renewable energy, such as offshore wind, green hydrogen, and solar power. The company was formerly known as Statoil ASA and changed its name to Equinor ASA in May 2018. Equinor ASA was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Stavanger, Norway.