Comparing Permianville Royalty Trust (NYSE:PVL) and GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK)

Permianville Royalty Trust (NYSE:PVL) and GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Permianville Royalty Trust and GeoPark”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Permianville Royalty Trust	$3.06 million	15.83	$10.60 million	$0.21	7.00
GeoPark	$716.84 million	0.66	$111.07 million	$1.97	4.72

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

Profitability

This table compares Permianville Royalty Trust and GeoPark’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Permianville Royalty Trust	12.60%	13.73%	13.67%
GeoPark	14.97%	57.93%	10.60%

Dividends

Permianville Royalty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.2%. GeoPark pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.2%. Permianville Royalty Trust pays out 57.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. GeoPark pays out 29.4% 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.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

6.8% of Permianville Royalty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.2% of GeoPark shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of GeoPark shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Permianville Royalty Trust has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GeoPark has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Permianville Royalty Trust and GeoPark, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Permianville Royalty Trust	0	0	0	0	0.00
GeoPark	0	0	2	0	3.00

GeoPark has a consensus price target of $12.50, suggesting a potential upside of 34.29%. Given GeoPark’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe GeoPark is more favorable than Permianville Royalty Trust.

Summary

GeoPark beats Permianville Royalty Trust on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Permianville Royalty Trust

Permianville Royalty Trust operates as a statutory trust. It is involved in the acquisition and holding of net profits interest representing the right to receive 80% of the net profits from the sale of oil and natural gas production from properties located in the states of Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico. The company was formerly known as Enduro Royalty Trust and changed its name to Permianville Royalty Trust in September 2018. Permianville Royalty Trust was incorporated in 2011 and is based in Houston, Texas.

About GeoPark

GeoPark Limited operates as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company primarily in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and other Latin American countries. It engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves. The company was formerly known as GeoPark Holdings Limited and changed its name to GeoPark Limited in July 2013. GeoPark Limited was founded in 2002 and is based in Bogotá, Colombia.