Reviewing Imperial Petroleum (NASDAQ:IMPP) & Paramount Resources (OTCMKTS:PRMRF)

Paramount Resources (OTCMKTS:PRMRF) and Imperial Petroleum (NASDAQ:IMPP) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

Paramount Resources has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Imperial Petroleum has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Paramount Resources and Imperial Petroleum, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Paramount Resources	0	4	4	1	2.67
Imperial Petroleum	0	1	1	0	2.50

Imperial Petroleum has a consensus price target of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 95.23%. Given Imperial Petroleum’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Imperial Petroleum is more favorable than Paramount Resources.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Paramount Resources and Imperial Petroleum”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Paramount Resources	$692.73 million	4.54	$922.32 million	$0.26	82.90
Imperial Petroleum	$161.00 million	1.04	$49.98 million	$1.56	2.96

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

Profitability

This table compares Paramount Resources and Imperial Petroleum’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Paramount Resources	12.52%	4.33%	3.24%
Imperial Petroleum	34.99%	13.84%	12.44%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

4.1% of Paramount Resources shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.4% of Imperial Petroleum shares are held by institutional investors. 36.3% of Paramount Resources shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Imperial Petroleum shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Paramount Resources beats Imperial Petroleum on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Paramount Resources

Paramount Resources Ltd. explores for and develops conventional and unconventional petroleum and natural gas reserves and resources in Canada. The company holds interests in the Karr and Wapiti Montney properties covering an area of 109,000 net acres located south of the city of Grande Prairie, Alberta; Kaybob North Duvernay development and natural gas producing properties covering an area of 124,000 net acres located in west-central Alberta; and Willesden Green Duvernay development in central Alberta and shale gas producing properties in the Horn River Basin in northeast British Columbia covering an area of 249,000 net acres. The company was founded in 1976 and is based in Calgary, Canada.

About Imperial Petroleum

Imperial Petroleum Inc. provides international seaborne transportation services to oil producers, refineries, and commodities traders. It carries refined petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and jet fuel, as well as edible oils and chemicals, crude oils, iron ore, coal and grains, and minor bulks, such as bauxite, phosphate, and fertilizers. As of April 1, 2024, the company owned and operated a fleet of six medium range refined petroleum product tankers; one Aframax tanker; two suezmax tankers; and two handysize drybulk carriers with a total capacity of 791,000 deadweight tons. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Athens, Greece.