Analyzing CrossAmerica Partners (NYSE:CAPL) and Baytex Energy (OTCMKTS:BTEGF)

Baytex Energy (OTCMKTS:BTEGF) and CrossAmerica Partners (NYSE:CAPL) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Baytex Energy and CrossAmerica Partners, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Baytex Energy	0	1	1	0	2.50
CrossAmerica Partners	0	2	0	0	2.00

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Baytex Energy and CrossAmerica Partners”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Baytex Energy	$2.79 billion	1.08	$1.29 billion	$1.47	3.76
CrossAmerica Partners	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.37	16.36

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

Profitability

This table compares Baytex Energy and CrossAmerica Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Baytex Energy	38.28%	40.85%	20.18%
CrossAmerica Partners	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

24.1% of CrossAmerica Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Baytex Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 52.0% of CrossAmerica Partners shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Baytex Energy beats CrossAmerica Partners on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Baytex Energy

Baytex Energy Corp. operates as an oil & gas exploration and production company. It engages in the acquisition, development and production of crude oil and natural gas in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and in the Eagle Ford in the United States. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About CrossAmerica Partners

CrossAmerica Partners LP engages in the wholesale distribution of motor fuels, operation of convenience stores, and ownership and leasing of real estate used in the retail distribution of motor fuels in the United States. It operates in two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The Wholesale segment engages in the wholesale distribution of motor fuels to lessee dealers, independent dealers, commission agents, and company operated retail sites. The Retail segment is involved in the sale of convenience merchandise items; and retail sale of motor fuels at company operated retail sites and retail sites operated by commission agents. CrossAmerica GP LLC operates as the general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as Lehigh Gas Partners LP and changed its name to CrossAmerica Partners LP in October 2014. The company was founded in 1992 and is based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.