Cimarex Energy (NYSE:XEC) and Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) are both mid-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Cimarex Energy and Magnolia Oil & Gas, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Cimarex Energy | 0 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 2.80 |
| Magnolia Oil & Gas | 0 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 2.54 |
Cimarex Energy presently has a consensus target price of $52.75, suggesting a potential downside of 14.51%. Magnolia Oil & Gas has a consensus target price of $9.2083, suggesting a potential downside of 20.96%. Given Cimarex Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Cimarex Energy is more favorable than Magnolia Oil & Gas.
Profitability
This table compares Cimarex Energy and Magnolia Oil & Gas' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Cimarex Energy | -104.14% | 7.29% | 3.41% |
| Magnolia Oil & Gas | -199.68% | -1.06% | -0.71% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Cimarex Energy and Magnolia Oil & Gas' revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Cimarex Energy | $2.36 billion | 2.68 | $-124,620,000.00 | $4.46 | 13.83 |
| Magnolia Oil & Gas | $936.14 million | 3.03 | $50.20 million | $0.30 | 38.83 |
Magnolia Oil & Gas has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Cimarex Energy. Cimarex Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Magnolia Oil & Gas, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
91.5% of Cimarex Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.3% of Magnolia Oil & Gas shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Cimarex Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of Magnolia Oil & Gas shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Risk & Volatility
Cimarex Energy has a beta of 2.4, meaning that its share price is 140% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Magnolia Oil & Gas has a beta of 2.72, meaning that its share price is 172% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Cimarex Energy beats Magnolia Oil & Gas on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
