Head to Head Survey: Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) & Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR)

Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) and Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Par Pacific and Equinor ASA, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Par Pacific	0	4	6	2	2.83
Equinor ASA	8	6	3	0	1.71

Par Pacific presently has a consensus price target of $38.29, indicating a potential downside of 6.98%. Equinor ASA has a consensus price target of $22.71, indicating a potential downside of 6.70%. Given Equinor ASA’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Equinor ASA is more favorable than Par Pacific.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Par Pacific and Equinor ASA”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Par Pacific	$7.48 billion	0.28	-$33.32 million	$4.75	8.66
Equinor ASA	$107.07 billion	0.67	$8.81 billion	$2.11	11.54

Equinor ASA has higher revenue and earnings than Par Pacific. Par Pacific is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equinor ASA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.2% of Par Pacific shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.5% of Equinor ASA shares are held by institutional investors. 4.4% of Par Pacific shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Equinor ASA shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Par Pacific and Equinor ASA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Par Pacific	-0.25%	-1.79%	-0.55%
Equinor ASA	5.27%	14.11%	4.50%

Risk & Volatility

Par Pacific has a beta of 1.74, meaning that its stock price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equinor ASA has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Equinor ASA beats Par Pacific on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Par Pacific

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. owns and operates energy and infrastructure businesses. The company operates through Refining, Retail, and Logistics segments. The Refining segment owns and operates refineries that produce gasoline, distillate, asphalt, and other products primarily for consumption in Kapolei, Hawaii, Newcastle, Wyoming, Tacoma, Washington, and Billings, Montana. The Retail segment operates fuel retail outlets, which sell merchandise, such as soft drinks, prepared foods, and other sundries in Hawaii under the Hele, 76, and nomnom brands; and gasoline, diesel, and retail merchandise in Washington and Idaho. The Logistics segment owns and operates terminals, pipelines, single point mooring, marine vessels, storage facilities, loading and truck racks, and rail facilities to distribute ethanol, petroleum, and refined products throughout Hawaii, the United States West Coast, Washington, the Dakotas, and Wyoming; and a jet fuel storage facility and pipeline that serves Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. It also holds interest in refined products pipeline. In addition, the company owns and operates a marine terminal, a unit train-capable rail loading terminal; a truck rack, and a proprietary pipeline that serves Joint Base Lewis McChord. The company was formerly known as Par Petroleum Corporation and changed its name to Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. in October 2015. Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered 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.