Head to Head Contrast: Granite Ridge Resources (NYSE:GRNT) & U.S. Energy (NASDAQ:USEG)

Granite Ridge Resources (NYSE:GRNT) and U.S. Energy (NASDAQ:USEG) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, risk and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Granite Ridge Resources has a beta of 0.34, suggesting that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, U.S. Energy has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

31.6% of Granite Ridge Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.0% of U.S. Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.5% of Granite Ridge Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 61.0% of U.S. Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Granite Ridge Resources and U.S. Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Granite Ridge Resources	1	2	1	0	2.00
U.S. Energy	1	0	1	0	2.00

Granite Ridge Resources presently has a consensus target price of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 51.09%. U.S. Energy has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 212.50%. Given U.S. Energy’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe U.S. Energy is more favorable than Granite Ridge Resources.

Dividends

Granite Ridge Resources pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.3%. U.S. Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.0%. Granite Ridge Resources pays out 183.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. U.S. Energy pays out -11.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Granite Ridge Resources and U.S. Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Granite Ridge Resources	7.47%	13.09%	7.89%
U.S. Energy	-174.90%	-60.68%	-33.31%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Granite Ridge Resources and U.S. Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Granite Ridge Resources	$380.03 million	1.83	$18.76 million	$0.24	22.06
U.S. Energy	$13.40 million	3.00	-$25.78 million	($0.81)	-1.38

Granite Ridge Resources has higher revenue and earnings than U.S. Energy. U.S. Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Granite Ridge Resources, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Granite Ridge Resources beats U.S. Energy on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Granite Ridge Resources

Granite Ridge Resources, Inc. operates as a non-operated oil and gas exploration and production company. It owns a portfolio of wells and acreage across the Permian and other unconventional basins in the United States. Granite Ridge Resources, Inc. is based in Dallas, Texas.

About U.S. Energy

U.S. Energy Corp., an independent energy company, focuses on the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It holds interests in various oil and gas properties located in the Rockies region, including Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota; the Mid-Continent region comprising Oklahoma, Kansas, and North and East Texas; West Texas; South Texas; and the Gulf Coast regions. The company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.