SM Energy (SM) Competitors

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

Which has more risk and volatility, SM or RRC?

SM Energy has a beta of 4.14, suggesting that its stock price is 314% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Range Resources has a beta of 1.81, suggesting that its stock price is 81% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of SM or RRC?

94.6% of SM Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.9% of Range Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of SM Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Range Resources shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is SM or RRC more profitable?

SM Energy has a net margin of 33.89% compared to Range Resources' net margin of 17.63%. SM Energy's return on equity of 19.62% beat Range Resources' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SM Energy	33.89%	19.62%	10.87%
Range Resources	17.63%	13.69%	7.21%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SM or RRC?

Range Resources received 204 more outperform votes than SM Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 65.04% of users gave SM Energy an outperform vote while only 59.20% of users gave Range Resources an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
SM Energy	Outperform Votes 826 65.04%	Underperform Votes 444 34.96%
Range Resources	Outperform Votes 1030 59.20%	Underperform Votes 710 40.80%

Is SM or RRC a better dividend stock?

SM Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Range Resources pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. SM Energy pays out 11.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Range Resources pays out 16.2% 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.

Do analysts rate SM or RRC?

SM Energy presently has a consensus price target of $51.90, indicating a potential upside of 20.02%. Range Resources has a consensus price target of $37.16, indicating a potential downside of 9.56%. Given SM Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SM Energy is more favorable than Range Resources.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SM Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.62
Range Resources	2 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Which has higher valuation & earnings, SM or RRC?

Range Resources has lower revenue, but higher 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
SM Energy	$2.37B	2.08	$817.88M	$7.16	6.04
Range Resources	$2.33B	4.25	$871.14M	$1.98	20.75

Does the media prefer SM or RRC?

In the previous week, Range Resources had 22 more articles in the media than SM Energy. MarketBeat recorded 29 mentions for Range Resources and 7 mentions for SM Energy. SM Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.15 beat Range Resources' score of 0.57 indicating that SM Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
SM Energy	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Range Resources	6 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

SM Energy beats Range Resources on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.