Head-To-Head Contrast: Kimbell Royalty (NYSE:KRP) and Marine Petroleum Trust (NASDAQ:MARPS)

Kimbell Royalty (NYSE:KRP) and Marine Petroleum Trust (NASDAQ:MARPS) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Kimbell Royalty and Marine Petroleum Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kimbell Royalty	$315.52 million	4.57	$12.32 million	($0.07)	-190.84
Marine Petroleum Trust	$1.04 million	8.54	$730,000.00	$0.36	12.33

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

Dividends

Kimbell Royalty pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.5%. Marine Petroleum Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. Kimbell Royalty pays out -2,000.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Marine Petroleum Trust pays out 75.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Kimbell Royalty is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Kimbell Royalty and Marine Petroleum Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kimbell Royalty	10.66%	12.51%	6.30%
Marine Petroleum Trust	69.73%	76.87%	76.87%

Risk and Volatility

Kimbell Royalty has a beta of 0.45, indicating that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marine Petroleum Trust has a beta of 0.21, indicating that its stock price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Kimbell Royalty and Marine Petroleum Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kimbell Royalty	1	5	1	0	2.00
Marine Petroleum Trust	0	1	0	0	2.00

Kimbell Royalty presently has a consensus target price of $17.20, indicating a potential upside of 28.75%. Given Kimbell Royalty’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Kimbell Royalty is more favorable than Marine Petroleum Trust.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

25.8% of Kimbell Royalty shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.8% of Marine Petroleum Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 5.6% of Kimbell Royalty shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Kimbell Royalty beats Marine Petroleum Trust on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kimbell Royalty

Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP, together with its subsidiaries, engages in acquiring and owning mineral and royalty interests in oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It serves as the general partner of the company. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Fort Worth, Texas.

About Marine Petroleum Trust

Marine Petroleum Trust, together with its subsidiary, Marine Petroleum Corporation, operates as a royalty trust in the United States. It has overriding royalty interest in oil and natural gas leases in the Central and Western areas of the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas. Marine Petroleum Trust was founded in 1956 and is based in Dallas, Texas.