Contrasting Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) and Permian Resources (NYSE:PR)

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) and Permian Resources (NYSE:PR) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Alto Ingredients and Permian Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alto Ingredients	5.51%	18.54%	11.61%
Permian Resources	21.52%	13.47%	8.66%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Alto Ingredients and Permian Resources”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alto Ingredients	$943.33 million	0.30	$13.34 million	$0.67	5.45
Permian Resources	$5.74 billion	3.80	$935.17 million	$1.51	17.25

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

42.4% of Alto Ingredients shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.8% of Permian Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.3% of Alto Ingredients shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.0% of Permian Resources shares are owned by 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.

Volatility & Risk

Alto Ingredients has a beta of 0.14, meaning that its share price is 86% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Permian Resources has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Alto Ingredients and Permian Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alto Ingredients	0	2	1	1	2.75
Permian Resources	0	2	15	5	3.14

Alto Ingredients presently has a consensus target price of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 173.97%. Permian Resources has a consensus target price of $26.39, indicating a potential upside of 1.34%. Given Alto Ingredients’ higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Alto Ingredients is more favorable than Permian Resources.

Summary

Permian Resources beats Alto Ingredients on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alto Ingredients

Alto Ingredients, Inc. produces, distributes, and markets specialty alcohols, renewable fuel, and essential ingredients in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Marketing and Distribution, Pekin Campus Production, and Western Production. It offers specialty alcohols used in mouthwash, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, hand sanitizers, disinfectants, and cleaners for health, home, and beauty markets; grain neutral spirits used in alcoholic beverages and vinegar, as well as corn germ used in corn oils in the food and beverage markets; alcohols and other products for paint applications and fertilizers in the industrial and agriculture markets; and essential ingredients include dried yeast, corn protein meal, corn protein feed, distiller's grains, and liquid feed for commercial animal feed and pet food applications, as well as yeast for human consumption. The company also provides fuel-grade ethanol used as transportation fuel and distillers corn oil used as a biodiesel feedstock, as well as fuel-grade ethanol produced by third parties. In addition, it offers transportation, storage, and delivery services through third-party service providers. The company sells ethanol to integrated oil companies and gasoline marketers; essential ingredient feed products to dairies and feedlots; and corn oil to poultry, renewable diesel, and biodiesel customers. It operates alcohol production facilities. The company was formerly known as Pacific Ethanol, Inc. and changed its name to Alto Ingredients, Inc. in January 2021. Alto Ingredients, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Pekin, Illinois.

About Permian Resources

Permian Resources Corporation, an independent oil and natural gas company, focuses on the development of crude oil and related liquids-rich natural gas reserves in the United States. The company’s assets primarily focus on the Delaware Basin, a sub-basin of the Permian Basin. Its properties consist of acreage blocks in West Texas, Eddy County, Lea County, and New Mexico. The company was formerly known as Centennial Resource Development, Inc. and changed its name to Permian Resources Corporation in September 2022. Permian Resources Corporation was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.