Comparing Summit Midstream Partners (NYSE:SMC) & HighPeak Energy (NASDAQ:HPK)

HighPeak Energy (NASDAQ:HPK) and Summit Midstream Partners (NYSE:SMC) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and risk.

Volatility and Risk

HighPeak Energy has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Summit Midstream Partners has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares HighPeak Energy and Summit Midstream Partners”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HighPeak Energy	$863.36 million	1.11	$18.96 million	($0.79)	-9.57
Summit Midstream Partners	$562.09 million	1.13	$8.93 million	($1.11)	-28.22

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

Profitability

This table compares HighPeak Energy and Summit Midstream Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HighPeak Energy	-10.52%	-1.44%	-0.71%
Summit Midstream Partners	-0.06%	-0.04%	-0.01%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for HighPeak Energy and Summit Midstream Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HighPeak Energy	1	1	0	1	2.33
Summit Midstream Partners	0	2	2	0	2.50

HighPeak Energy presently has a consensus price target of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 58.77%. Summit Midstream Partners has a consensus price target of $43.00, indicating a potential upside of 37.29%. Given HighPeak Energy’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe HighPeak Energy is more favorable than Summit Midstream Partners.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

24.1% of HighPeak Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.0% of Summit Midstream Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.6% of HighPeak Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 43.0% of Summit Midstream Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Summit Midstream Partners beats HighPeak Energy on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About HighPeak Energy

HighPeak Energy, Inc., an independent oil and natural gas company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. The company was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

About Summit Midstream Partners

Summit Midstream Corporation focuses on owning, developing, and operating midstream energy infrastructure assets primarily shale formations in the continental United States. It operates natural gas, crude oil, and produced water gathering systems in four unconventional resource basins, including the Williston Basin in North Dakota, which includes the Bakken and Three Forks shale formations; the Denver-Julesburg Basin that consists of the Niobrara and Codell shale formations in Colorado and Wyoming; the Fort Worth Basin in Texas, which comprises the Barnett Shale formation; and the Piceance Basin in Colorado, which includes the Mesaverde formation, as well as the emerging Mancos and Niobrara Shale formations. It serves natural gas and crude oil producers. Summit Midstream Corporation was founded in 2012 and is based in Houston, Texas.