Contrasting Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) & North European Oil Royality Trust (NYSE:NRT)

North European Oil Royality Trust (NYSE:NRT) and Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) are both energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

7.0% of North European Oil Royality Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.3% of Plains GP shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.5% of North European Oil Royality Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.9% of Plains GP shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

North European Oil Royality Trust has a beta of 0.18, meaning that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Plains GP has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for North European Oil Royality Trust and Plains GP, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
North European Oil Royality Trust	0	0	1	0	3.00
Plains GP	2	5	5	2	2.50

Plains GP has a consensus price target of $25.33, suggesting a potential downside of 6.55%. Given Plains GP’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Plains GP is more favorable than North European Oil Royality Trust.

Profitability

This table compares North European Oil Royality Trust and Plains GP’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
North European Oil Royality Trust	91.06%	491.20%	222.05%
Plains GP	0.21%	0.70%	0.36%

Dividends

North European Oil Royality Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.4%. Plains GP pays an annual dividend of $1.67 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.2%. North European Oil Royality Trust pays out 102.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Plains GP pays out 59.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares North European Oil Royality Trust and Plains GP”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
North European Oil Royality Trust	$10.29 million	7.50	$7.94 million	$1.02	8.23
Plains GP	$52.30 billion	0.10	$103.00 million	$2.79	9.72

Plains GP has higher revenue and earnings than North European Oil Royality Trust. North European Oil Royality Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Plains GP, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Plains GP beats North European Oil Royality Trust on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About North European Oil Royality Trust

North European Oil Royalty Trust, a grantor trust, holds overriding royalty rights covering gas and oil production in various concessions or leases in the Federal Republic of Germany. The company also has rights under contracts with German exploration and development subsidiaries of ExxonMobil Corp. and the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies. In addition, it holds royalties for the sale of gas well gas, oil well gas, crude oil, condensate, and sulfur. North European Oil Royalty Trust was founded in 1975 and is based in Keene, New Hampshire.

About Plains GP

Plains GP Holdings, L.P., through its subsidiary, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., owns and operates midstream infrastructure systems in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Crude Oil and Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs). The company engages in the gathering and transporting crude oil and NGLs using pipelines, gathering systems, and trucks. It engages in the loading and unloading services at terminals; NGL fractionation and isomerization services; and natural gas and condensate processing services. The company offers logistics services to producers, refiners, and other customers. PAA GP Holdings LLC operates as a general partner of the company. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.