Analyzing Hallador Energy (NASDAQ:HNRG) and XPLR Infrastructure (NYSE:XIFR)

XPLR Infrastructure (NYSE:XIFR) and Hallador Energy (NASDAQ:HNRG) are both small-cap utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

66.0% of XPLR Infrastructure shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.4% of Hallador Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of XPLR Infrastructure shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.4% of Hallador Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for XPLR Infrastructure and Hallador Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
XPLR Infrastructure	2	4	2	1	2.22
Hallador Energy	2	0	2	2	2.67

XPLR Infrastructure presently has a consensus target price of $11.57, suggesting a potential upside of 57.76%. Hallador Energy has a consensus target price of $24.88, suggesting a potential upside of 169.50%. Given Hallador Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Hallador Energy is more favorable than XPLR Infrastructure.

Risk and Volatility

XPLR Infrastructure has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hallador Energy has a beta of 0.47, indicating that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares XPLR Infrastructure and Hallador Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
XPLR Infrastructure	$1.20 billion	0.58	-$28.00 million	$1.59	4.61
Hallador Energy	$469.47 million	0.93	$41.87 million	$0.02	461.50

Hallador Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings than XPLR Infrastructure. XPLR Infrastructure is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hallador Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares XPLR Infrastructure and Hallador Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
XPLR Infrastructure	12.39%	1.40%	0.78%
Hallador Energy	-0.20%	-0.52%	-0.21%

About XPLR Infrastructure

XPLR Infrastructure LP engages in the acquisition, management, and ownership of contracted clean energy projects with long-term cash flows. It owns interests in wind and solar projects in North America and natural gas infrastructure assets in Texas. The company was founded on March 6, 2014 and is headquartered in Juno Beach, FL.

About Hallador Energy

Hallador Energy Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production of steam coal in the State of Indiana for the electric power generation industry. The company owns the Oaktown Mine 1 and Oaktown Mine 2 underground mines in Oaktown; Freelandville Center Pit surface mine in Freelandville; and Prosperity Surface mine in Petersburg, Indiana. It is also involved in gas exploration activities in Indiana; and operation of logistics transport facility. Hallador Energy Company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Terre Haute, Indiana.