Head-To-Head Contrast: Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) vs. Permian Resources (NYSE:PR)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Green Plains and Permian Resources, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Green Plains	0	3	2	1	2.67
Permian Resources	0	2	15	5	3.14

Green Plains currently has a consensus target price of $18.75, suggesting a potential upside of 41.72%. Permian Resources has a consensus target price of $26.61, suggesting a potential upside of 22.77%. Given Green Plains’ higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Green Plains is more favorable than Permian Resources.

Profitability

This table compares Green Plains and Permian Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Green Plains	10.87%	23.31%	12.06%
Permian Resources	25.04%	15.56%	9.99%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.8% of Permian Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Green Plains shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.0% of Permian Resources shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Green Plains pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Permian Resources pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Green Plains pays out 19.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Permian Resources pays out 33.3% 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. Permian Resources has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Green Plains is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Green Plains and Permian Resources”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Green Plains	$1.83 billion	0.51	-$121.28 million	$2.45	5.40
Permian Resources	$6.37 billion	2.85	$935.17 million	$1.92	11.29

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

Risk & Volatility

Green Plains has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Permian Resources has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Permian Resources beats Green Plains on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Green Plains

Green Plains Inc. produces low-carbon fuels in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Ethanol Production, Agribusiness and Energy Services, and Partnership. The Ethanol Production segment produces ethanol, distillers grains, and ultra-high protein and renewable corn oil. The Agribusiness and Energy Services segment engages in the grain procurement, handling and storage, commodity marketing business; and trading of ethanol, distiller grains, renewable corn oil, grain, natural gas, and other commodities in various markets. This segment also provides grain drying and storage services to grain producers. The Partnership segment offers fuel storage and transportation services. It operates 24 ethanol storage facilities; two fuel terminal facilities; and a fleet of approximately 2,180 leased railcars. The company was formerly known as Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. and changed its name to Green Plains Inc. in May 2014. Green Plains Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.

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.