SM Energy (SM) Competitors

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) and SM Energy (NYSE:SM) are both mid-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, community ranking, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability and media sentiment.

Is RRC or SM more profitable?

SM Energy has a net margin of 28.63% compared to Range Resources' net margin of 17.63%. SM Energy's return on equity of 20.30% beat Range Resources' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Range Resources	17.63%	13.69%	7.21%
SM Energy	28.63%	20.30%	11.17%

Which has more risk and volatility, RRC or SM?

Range Resources has a beta of 1.77, meaning that its share price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SM Energy has a beta of 4.11, meaning that its share price is 311% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend RRC or SM?

Range Resources currently has a consensus target price of $38.78, suggesting a potential upside of 0.50%. SM Energy has a consensus target price of $51.90, suggesting a potential upside of 49.91%. Given SM Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe SM Energy is more favorable than Range Resources.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Range Resources	2 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.21
SM Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.58

Is RRC or SM a better dividend stock?

Range Resources pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. SM Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Range Resources pays out 16.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SM Energy pays out 12.0% 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. SM Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor RRC or SM?

Range Resources received 204 more outperform votes than SM Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 65.07% of users gave SM Energy an outperform vote while only 59.08% of users gave Range Resources an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Range Resources	Outperform Votes 1031 59.08%	Underperform Votes 714 40.92%
SM Energy	Outperform Votes 827 65.07%	Underperform Votes 444 34.93%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in RRC or SM?

98.9% of Range Resources shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.6% of SM Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Range Resources shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of SM Energy shares are held by 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.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, RRC or SM?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Range Resources	$3.37B	2.76	$871.14M	$1.98	19.49
SM Energy	$2.69B	1.47	$817.88M	$6.68	5.18

Does the media refer more to RRC or SM?

In the previous week, Range Resources had 8 more articles in the media than SM Energy. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for Range Resources and 16 mentions for SM Energy. SM Energy's average media sentiment score of 0.79 beat Range Resources' score of 0.59 indicating that SM Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Range Resources	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
SM Energy	5 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

SM Energy beats Range Resources on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.