Comparing Delek US (NYSE:DK) & Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP)

Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP) and Delek US (NYSE:DK) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Natural Resource Partners and Delek US’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Natural Resource Partners	57.13%	16.65%	13.88%
Delek US	1.86%	109.03%	6.44%

Dividends

Natural Resource Partners pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Delek US pays an annual dividend of $1.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Natural Resource Partners pays out 38.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Delek US pays out 28.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Delek US has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

31.8% of Natural Resource Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.0% of Delek US shares are owned by institutional investors. 35.3% of Natural Resource Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.6% of Delek US shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Natural Resource Partners and Delek US, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Natural Resource Partners	0	1	0	0	2.00
Delek US	0	8	5	1	2.50

Delek US has a consensus target price of $70.83, suggesting a potential downside of 9.47%. Given Delek US’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Delek US is more favorable than Natural Resource Partners.

Volatility & Risk

Natural Resource Partners has a beta of 0.24, indicating that its share price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Delek US has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Natural Resource Partners and Delek US”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Natural Resource Partners	$199.97 million	7.72	$136.37 million	$7.84	14.86
Delek US	$10.72 billion	0.45	-$22.80 million	$3.56	21.98

Natural Resource Partners has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Delek US. Natural Resource Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Delek US, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Delek US beats Natural Resource Partners on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Natural Resource Partners

Natural Resource Partners L.P., together with its subsidiaries, owns, manages, and leases a portfolio of mineral properties in the United States. It operates in two segments, Mineral Rights and Soda Ash. The company owns interests in coal, soda ash, trona, and other natural resources. Its coal reserves are primarily located in the Appalachia Basin, the Illinois Basin, and the Northern Powder River Basin in the United States; industrial minerals and aggregates properties located in the United States; and oil and gas properties located in Louisiana. The company leases a portion of its reserves in exchange for royalty payments; and owns and leases transportation and processing infrastructure related to coal properties. NRP (GP) LP serves as the general partner of the company. Natural Resource Partners L.P. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Delek US

Delek US Holdings, Inc. engages in the integrated downstream energy business in the United States. The company operates through Refining, Logistics, and Retail segments. The Refining segment processes crude oil and other feedstock for the manufacture of various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, asphalt, and other petroleum-based products that are distributed through owned and third-party product terminal. It owns and operates refineries located in Tyler, Texas; El Dorado, Arkansas; Big Spring, Texas; and Krotz Springs, Louisiana, as well as biodiesel facilities in Crossett, Arkansas, Cleburne, Texas, and New Albany, Mississippi. The Logistics segment gathers, transports, and stores crude oil, intermediate, and refined products; and markets, distributes, transports, and stores refined products, as well as disposes and recycles water for third parties. It owns or leases crude oil transportation pipelines, refined product pipelines, crude oil gathering systems, and associated crude oil storage tanks; and owns and operates light product distribution terminals, as well as markets light products using third-party terminals. The Retail segment owns and leases convenience store sites located primarily in West Texas and New Mexico. Its convenience stores offer various grades of gasoline and diesel under the DK or Alon brand; and food products and service, tobacco products, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, and general merchandise, as well as money orders to the public primarily under the 7-Eleven and DK or Alon brand names. It serves oil companies, independent refiners and marketers, jobbers, distributors, utility and transportation companies, government, and independent retail fuel operators. Delek US Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.