Head-To-Head Analysis: San Juan Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE:SJT) and Riley Exploration Permian (NYSE:REPX)

San Juan Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE:SJT) and Riley Exploration Permian (NYSE:REPX) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares San Juan Basin Royalty Trust and Riley Exploration Permian”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
San Juan Basin Royalty Trust	$10,000.00	20,527.04	-$390,000.00	($0.01)	-440.40
Riley Exploration Permian	$578.21 million	1.69	$111.59 million	$4.64	9.52

Riley Exploration Permian has higher revenue and earnings than San Juan Basin Royalty Trust. San Juan Basin Royalty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Riley Exploration Permian, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for San Juan Basin Royalty Trust and Riley Exploration Permian, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
San Juan Basin Royalty Trust	1	0	0	0	1.00
Riley Exploration Permian	0	0	3	1	3.25

Riley Exploration Permian has a consensus price target of $43.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.60%. Given Riley Exploration Permian’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Riley Exploration Permian is more favorable than San Juan Basin Royalty Trust.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

10.4% of San Juan Basin Royalty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.9% of Riley Exploration Permian shares are held by institutional investors. 4.2% of Riley Exploration Permian shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares San Juan Basin Royalty Trust and Riley Exploration Permian’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
San Juan Basin Royalty Trust	N/A	-37.45%	-29.01%
Riley Exploration Permian	28.48%	23.82%	11.31%

Volatility and Risk

San Juan Basin Royalty Trust has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Riley Exploration Permian has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Riley Exploration Permian beats San Juan Basin Royalty Trust on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About San Juan Basin Royalty Trust

San Juan Basin Royalty Trust is a passive royalty trust that holds interests in oil and natural gas properties in the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico. Its assets are concentrated in producing properties, with natural gas representing a significant part of the underlying production. The trust does not explore for or produce oil and gas itself. Instead, it receives proceeds attributable to its royalty interests, pays trust expenses and distributes available funds to its unitholders. Established in 1980, the trust’s activities are focused on its interests in the San Juan Basin rather than on operating a diversified business or serving customers directly.

About Riley Exploration Permian

Riley Exploration Permian, Inc. is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. It acquires, develops and operates properties in the Permian Basin, with operations concentrated in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. The company’s production includes crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities span the development of existing properties as well as drilling and other work to identify and produce additional resources. Riley Exploration Permian traces its origins to 2016 and became publicly traded following a merger with Tengasco.