Reviewing Baytex Energy (OTCMKTS:BTEGF) & Montauk Renewables (NASDAQ:MNTK)

Montauk Renewables (NASDAQ:MNTK) and Baytex Energy (OTCMKTS:BTEGF) are both energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Montauk Renewables and Baytex Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Montauk Renewables	1	3	0	1	2.20
Baytex Energy	0	1	1	0	2.50

Montauk Renewables currently has a consensus target price of $1.80, indicating a potential downside of 15.49%. Given Montauk Renewables’ higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Montauk Renewables is more favorable than Baytex Energy.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

16.4% of Montauk Renewables shares are owned by institutional investors. 54.3% of Montauk Renewables shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Baytex Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Montauk Renewables and Baytex Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Montauk Renewables	$176.38 million	1.72	$1.75 million	$0.06	35.50
Baytex Energy	$2.79 billion	1.07	$1.29 billion	$1.47	3.74

Baytex Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Montauk Renewables. Baytex Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Montauk Renewables, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Montauk Renewables has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Baytex Energy has a beta of 2.16, meaning that its stock price is 116% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Montauk Renewables and Baytex Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Montauk Renewables	3.40%	2.45%	1.47%
Baytex Energy	38.28%	40.85%	20.18%

Summary

Baytex Energy beats Montauk Renewables on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Montauk Renewables

Montauk Renewables, Inc., a renewable energy company, engages in recovery and processing of biogas from landfills and other non-fossil fuel sources. It operates in two segments, Renewable Natural Gas and Renewable Electricity Generation. The company develops, owns, and operates renewable natural gas (RNG) projects that captures methane and prevents it from being released into the atmosphere by converting it into either RNG or electrical power for the electrical grid. Its customers for RNG and renewable identification numbers (RIN) include large, long-term owner-operators of landfills and livestock farms, local utilities, and large refiners in the natural gas and refining sectors. Montauk Renewables, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

About Baytex Energy

Baytex Energy Corp. operates as an oil & gas exploration and production company. It engages in the acquisition, development and production of crude oil and natural gas in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and in the Eagle Ford in the United States. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.