Contrasting LandBridge (NYSE:LB) and Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND)

Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) and LandBridge (NYSE:LB) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Smart Sand and LandBridge, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smart Sand	0	0	1	0	3.00
LandBridge	1	7	2	0	2.10

LandBridge has a consensus target price of $81.67, suggesting a potential downside of 6.13%. Given LandBridge’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe LandBridge is more favorable than Smart Sand.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Smart Sand and LandBridge”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smart Sand	$330.15 million	0.65	$1.35 million	$0.26	19.54
LandBridge	$199.09 million	33.68	$30.13 million	$1.13	76.99

LandBridge has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Smart Sand. Smart Sand is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than LandBridge, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Smart Sand and LandBridge’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smart Sand	2.71%	4.41%	3.07%
LandBridge	16.49%	4.75%	2.87%

Risk and Volatility

Smart Sand has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LandBridge has a beta of 0.09, suggesting that its share price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.2% of Smart Sand shares are held by institutional investors. 33.5% of Smart Sand shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 63.3% of LandBridge shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

LandBridge beats Smart Sand on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Smart Sand

Smart Sand, Inc., an integrated frac and industrial sand supply and services company, engages in the excavation, processing, and sale of sands or proppant for use in hydraulic fracturing operations in the oil and gas industry in the United States. It also provides proppant logistics services; and wellsite storage solutions through SmartSystems products and services. The company sells its products primarily to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies, oilfield service companies, and industrial manufacturers. Smart Sand, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Spring, Texas.

About LandBridge

LandBridge Company LLC owns and manages land and resources to support and enhance oil and natural gas development in the United States. It owns surface acres in and around the Delaware Basin in Texas and New Mexico. The company holds a portfolio of oil and gas royalties. It also sells brackish water and other surface composite materials. The company was founded in 2021 and is based in Houston, Texas. LandBridge Company LLC operates as a subsidiary of LandBridge Holdings LLC.