Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE – Get Free Report) and CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI – Get Free Report) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Green Plains and CVR Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Green Plains | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.00 |
| CVR Energy | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.38 |
Green Plains currently has a consensus target price of $15.43, indicating a potential upside of 3.13%. CVR Energy has a consensus target price of $30.50, indicating a potential downside of 29.95%. Given Green Plains’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Green Plains is more favorable than CVR Energy.
Valuation and Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Green Plains | $2.09 billion | 0.50 | -$121.28 million | $1.59 | 9.41 |
| CVR Energy | $7.16 billion | 0.61 | $27.00 million | $0.68 | 64.03 |
CVR Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Green Plains. Green Plains is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CVR Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Green Plains has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CVR Energy has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
98.9% of CVR Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Green Plains shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 70.8% of CVR Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Green Plains and CVR Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Green Plains | 6.78% | 14.52% | 7.33% |
| CVR Energy | 0.81% | -15.21% | -3.33% |
Summary
Green Plains beats CVR Energy on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Green Plains
Green Plains Inc. produces low-carbon fuels in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Ethanol Production, Agribusiness and Energy Services, and Partnership. The Ethanol Production segment produces ethanol, distillers grains, and ultra-high protein and renewable corn oil. The Agribusiness and Energy Services segment engages in the grain procurement, handling and storage, commodity marketing business; and trading of ethanol, distiller grains, renewable corn oil, grain, natural gas, and other commodities in various markets. This segment also provides grain drying and storage services to grain producers. The Partnership segment offers fuel storage and transportation services. It operates 24 ethanol storage facilities; two fuel terminal facilities; and a fleet of approximately 2,180 leased railcars. The company was formerly known as Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. and changed its name to Green Plains Inc. in May 2014. Green Plains Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.
About CVR Energy
CVR Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the petroleum refining and marketing, and nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing activities in the United States. It operates in two segments, Petroleum and Nitrogen Fertilizer. The Petroleum segment refines and supplies gasoline, crude oil, distillate, diesel fuel, and other refined products. This segment also owns and operates a coking medium-sour crude oil refinery in southeast Kansas; and a crude oil refinery in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, as well as supporting logistics assets. This segment primarily serves retailers, railroads, farm cooperatives, and other refiners/marketers. The Nitrogen Fertilizer segment owns and operates a nitrogen fertilizer plant in North America that utilizes a pet coke gasification process to produce nitrogen fertilizer products; and a nitrogen fertilizer facility in East Dubuque, Illinois that produces nitrogen fertilizers in the form of ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid, and liquid and granulated urea. This segment primarily markets UAN products to agricultural customers; and ammonia products to agricultural and industrial customers. The company was founded in 1906 and is based in Sugar Land, Texas. CVR Energy, Inc. is a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises L.P.
Receive News & Ratings for Green Plains Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Green Plains and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
