PetroQuest Energy (OTCMKTS:PQUE) & Greenfire Resources (NYSE:GFR) Head-To-Head Analysis

PetroQuest Energy (OTCMKTS:PQUE) and Greenfire Resources (NYSE:GFR) 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 earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.6% of PetroQuest Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.9% of Greenfire Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 8.8% of PetroQuest Energy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.0% of Greenfire Resources shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares PetroQuest Energy and Greenfire Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PetroQuest Energy	-4.93%	N/A	-3.76%
Greenfire Resources	5.02%	5.40%	3.13%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares PetroQuest Energy and Greenfire Resources”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PetroQuest Energy	$108.29 million	0.00	-$6.63 million	($0.55)	-0.04
Greenfire Resources	$775.81 million	0.64	-$100.50 million	$0.35	20.51

PetroQuest Energy has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Greenfire Resources. PetroQuest Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Greenfire Resources, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for PetroQuest Energy and Greenfire Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PetroQuest Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00
Greenfire Resources	0	0	1	0	3.00

Greenfire Resources has a consensus target price of $10.50, suggesting a potential upside of 46.24%. Given Greenfire Resources’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Greenfire Resources is more favorable than PetroQuest Energy.

Volatility & Risk

PetroQuest Energy has a beta of 1.56, meaning that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greenfire Resources has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Greenfire Resources beats PetroQuest Energy on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PetroQuest Energy

PetroQuest Energy, Inc. operates as an independent oil and gas company in Texas and Louisiana. The company acquires, explores for, develops, and operates oil and gas properties. As of December 31, 2017, it had estimated proved reserves of 1.8 million barrels of oil; 19.4 billion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas liquids; and 125.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas. PetroQuest Energy, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.

About Greenfire Resources

Greenfire Resources Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, exploration, and operation of oil and gas properties in the Athabasca oil sands region of Alberta. The company operates the Tier-1 oil sands assets located in Western Canada. It utilizes steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) extraction technology, a situ thermal oil recovery process to recover diluted and non- diluted bitumen. The company is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.