Reviewing Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP) & Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE)

Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP) and Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, risk and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

31.8% of Natural Resource Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.9% of Expand Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 35.3% of Natural Resource Partners shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Expand Energy shares are owned by 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Natural Resource Partners and Expand Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Natural Resource Partners	0	1	0	0	2.00
Expand Energy	0	6	14	3	2.87

Expand Energy has a consensus price target of $123.94, indicating a potential upside of 40.49%. Given Expand Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Expand Energy is more favorable than Natural Resource Partners.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Natural Resource Partners and Expand Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Natural Resource Partners	$207.28 million	7.09	$136.37 million	$7.84	14.15
Expand Energy	$12.12 billion	1.68	$1.82 billion	$11.58	7.62

Expand Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Natural Resource Partners. Expand Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Natural Resource Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Natural Resource Partners pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Expand Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Natural Resource Partners pays out 38.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Expand Energy pays out 19.9% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Natural Resource Partners and Expand Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Natural Resource Partners	57.13%	16.65%	13.88%
Expand Energy	20.46%	10.33%	6.89%

Risk & Volatility

Natural Resource Partners has a beta of 0.24, suggesting that its stock price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Expand Energy has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Expand Energy beats Natural Resource Partners on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Natural Resource Partners

Natural Resource Partners L.P., together with its subsidiaries, owns, manages, and leases a portfolio of mineral properties in the United States. It operates in two segments, Mineral Rights and Soda Ash. The company owns interests in coal, soda ash, trona, and other natural resources. Its coal reserves are primarily located in the Appalachia Basin, the Illinois Basin, and the Northern Powder River Basin in the United States; industrial minerals and aggregates properties located in the United States; and oil and gas properties located in Louisiana. The company leases a portion of its reserves in exchange for royalty payments; and owns and leases transportation and processing infrastructure related to coal properties. NRP (GP) LP serves as the general partner of the company. Natural Resource Partners L.P. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Expand Energy

Expand Energy Corporation is an independent natural gas producer principally in the United States. Expand Energy Corporation, formerly known as Chesapeake Energy Corporation, is based in OKLAHOMA CITY.