Financial Survey: Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) & Inpex (OTCMKTS:IPXHY)

Inpex (OTCMKTS:IPXHY) and Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Inpex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.0% of Matador Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.9% of Matador Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Inpex pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Matador Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Inpex pays out 17.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Matador Resources pays out 25.9% 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. Matador Resources has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Matador Resources is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk and Volatility

Inpex has a beta of 0.2, meaning that its stock price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Matador Resources has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Inpex and Matador Resources, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Inpex	0	3	0	0	2.00
Matador Resources	0	5	11	0	2.69

Matador Resources has a consensus target price of $68.50, suggesting a potential upside of 36.17%. Given Matador Resources’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Matador Resources is more favorable than Inpex.

Profitability

This table compares Inpex and Matador Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Inpex	21.93%	8.53%	5.51%
Matador Resources	18.60%	14.32%	6.76%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Inpex and Matador Resources”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Inpex	$13.45 billion	1.96	$2.52 billion	$2.38	9.34
Matador Resources	$3.70 billion	1.68	$759.22 million	$5.80	8.67

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

Summary

Matador Resources beats Inpex on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Inpex

INPEX Corporation is a Japanese energy company focused on the exploration, development, production and sale of oil and natural gas. Its activities span the energy project lifecycle, from resource exploration and field development to the production and marketing of energy products. The company operates in Japan and internationally, with projects and business interests in regions including Australia, Indonesia and the Middle East. A major project is the Ichthys LNG project in Australia, which produces liquefied natural gas, condensate and liquefied petroleum gas for domestic and overseas markets.

About Matador Resources

Matador Resources Company is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and acquisition of oil and natural gas. Its operations are focused primarily on the Delaware Basin in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. Alongside its exploration and production business, Matador provides midstream services through its subsidiary San Mateo Midstream. These activities include gathering and processing natural gas and handling produced water, supporting the company’s operations and serving other producers in the region.