Reviewing Reserve Petroleum (OTCMKTS:RSRV) and Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR)

Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) and Reserve Petroleum (OTCMKTS:RSRV) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Par Pacific and Reserve Petroleum, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Par Pacific	0	3	10	0	2.77
Reserve Petroleum	0	0	0	0	0.00

Par Pacific currently has a consensus price target of $81.57, indicating a potential upside of 1.93%. Given Par Pacific’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Par Pacific is more favorable than Reserve Petroleum.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Par Pacific and Reserve Petroleum”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Par Pacific	$7.46 billion	0.54	$369.39 million	$17.14	4.67
Reserve Petroleum	N/A	N/A	N/A	$44.50	4.75

Par Pacific has higher revenue and earnings than Reserve Petroleum. Par Pacific is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Reserve Petroleum, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Par Pacific and Reserve Petroleum’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Par Pacific	9.94%	56.19%	21.61%
Reserve Petroleum	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.2% of Par Pacific shares are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Par Pacific shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.8% of Reserve Petroleum shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Par Pacific beats Reserve Petroleum on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Par Pacific

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. owns and operates energy and infrastructure businesses. The company operates through Refining, Retail, and Logistics segments. The Refining segment owns and operates refineries that produce gasoline, distillate, asphalt, and other products primarily for consumption in Kapolei, Hawaii, Newcastle, Wyoming, Tacoma, Washington, and Billings, Montana. The Retail segment operates fuel retail outlets, which sell merchandise, such as soft drinks, prepared foods, and other sundries in Hawaii under the Hele, 76, and nomnom brands; and gasoline, diesel, and retail merchandise in Washington and Idaho. The Logistics segment owns and operates terminals, pipelines, single point mooring, marine vessels, storage facilities, loading and truck racks, and rail facilities to distribute ethanol, petroleum, and refined products throughout Hawaii, the United States West Coast, Washington, the Dakotas, and Wyoming; and a jet fuel storage facility and pipeline that serves Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. It also holds interest in refined products pipeline. In addition, the company owns and operates a marine terminal, a unit train-capable rail loading terminal; a truck rack, and a proprietary pipeline that serves Joint Base Lewis McChord. The company was formerly known as Par Petroleum Corporation and changed its name to Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. in October 2015. Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Reserve Petroleum

The Reserve Petroleum Company, an independent oil and gas company, engages in oil and natural gas exploration, development, and minerals management with areas of concentration in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. It owns producing properties and non-producing mineral interests in the north and south-central United States. The company also provides water well drilling services. The Reserve Petroleum Company was incorporated in 1931 and is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.