Analyzing Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) & Carbon Energy (OTCMKTS:CRBO)

Carbon Energy (OTCMKTS:CRBO) and Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.7% of Viper Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.1% of Carbon Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Viper Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Carbon Energy and Viper Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carbon Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00
Viper Energy	0	2	13	1	2.94

Viper Energy has a consensus target price of $58.15, indicating a potential upside of 42.71%. Given Viper Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Viper Energy is more favorable than Carbon Energy.

Risk and Volatility

Carbon Energy has a beta of -1.88, indicating that its stock price is 288% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Viper Energy has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carbon Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Viper Energy	$1.40 billion	10.49	-$68.00 million	($0.32)	-127.34

Carbon Energy has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Viper Energy.

Profitability

This table compares Carbon Energy and Viper Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carbon Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A
Viper Energy	-2.77%	2.64%	2.21%

Summary

Viper Energy beats Carbon Energy on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Carbon Energy

Carbon Energy Corporation, an independent oil and natural gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids properties in the United States. It focuses on conventional and unconventional reservoirs, including shale, tight sand, and coalbed methane located in the Appalachian, Illinois, and Ventura Basins. It owns working interests and royalty interests in wells located in California, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, as well as had leasehold positions. The company was formerly known as Carbon Natural Gas Company and changed its name to Carbon Energy Corporation in June 2018. Carbon Energy Corporation was founded in 2007 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

About Viper Energy

Viper Energy, Inc. engages in the acquisition of oil and natural gas properties. It owns, acquires, and exploits oil and natural gas properties in North America. The company was founded on February 27, 2014 and is headquartered in Midland, TX.