ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) & Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) Head-To-Head Review

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Range Resources and ConocoPhillips’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Range Resources	25.04%	18.63%	11.23%
ConocoPhillips	14.22%	14.72%	7.77%

Risk & Volatility

Range Resources has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ConocoPhillips has a beta of 0.24, meaning that its share price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Range Resources and ConocoPhillips, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Range Resources	1	16	2	1	2.15
ConocoPhillips	2	6	17	2	2.70

Range Resources presently has a consensus price target of $44.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.97%. ConocoPhillips has a consensus price target of $143.29, indicating a potential upside of 6.74%. Given Range Resources’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Range Resources is more favorable than ConocoPhillips.

Dividends

Range Resources pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. ConocoPhillips pays an annual dividend of $3.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Range Resources pays out 11.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ConocoPhillips pays out 44.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Range Resources has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Range Resources and ConocoPhillips”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Range Resources	$3.27 billion	2.91	$658.02 million	$3.62	11.26
ConocoPhillips	$61.55 billion	2.62	$7.99 billion	$7.56	17.76

ConocoPhillips has higher revenue and earnings than Range Resources. Range Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ConocoPhillips, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.9% of Range Resources shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.4% of ConocoPhillips shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Range Resources shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of ConocoPhillips shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Range Resources beats ConocoPhillips on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Range Resources

Range Resources Corporation operates as an independent natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, and condensate company in the United States. The company engages in the exploration, development, and acquisition of natural gas and crude oil properties located in the Appalachian region. It sells natural gas to utilities, marketing and midstream companies, and industrial users; NGLs to petrochemical end users, marketers/traders, and natural gas processors; and oil and condensate to crude oil processors, transporters, and refining and marketing companies. The company was formerly known as Lomak Petroleum Inc. and changed its name to Range Resources Corporation in August 1998. Range Resources Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects. ConocoPhillips was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.