Contrasting Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) & Lone Pine Resources (OTCMKTS:LPRIQ)

Lone Pine Resources (OTCMKTS:LPRIQ) and Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) are both mining companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.7% of Viper Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Viper Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Lone Pine Resources and Viper Energy”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lone Pine Resources	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Viper Energy	$835.80 million	11.38	$200.09 million	$2.33	19.16

Viper Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Lone Pine Resources.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Lone Pine Resources and Viper Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lone Pine Resources	0	0	0	0	0.00
Viper Energy	0	0	11	0	3.00

Viper Energy has a consensus price target of $59.55, indicating a potential upside of 33.39%. Given Viper Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Viper Energy is more favorable than Lone Pine Resources.

Profitability

This table compares Lone Pine Resources and Viper Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lone Pine Resources	N/A	N/A	N/A
Viper Energy	24.65%	6.72%	4.98%

Summary

Viper Energy beats Lone Pine Resources on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lone Pine Resources

Lone Pine Resources Inc. (Lone Pine) is an independent oil and gas exploration, development, and production company with operations in Canada within the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and the Northwest Territories. The Company focuses on the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, which includes its Narraway/Ojay and Wild River fields in the Deep Basin and its Evi field in the Peace River Arch. Lone Pine is a wholly owned subsidiary of Forest Oil Corporation, which is an independent oil and gas company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. As of December 31, 2009, the Company had approximately 322 billions of cubic feet equivalent of estimated proved reserves of which approximately 69% was natural gas and approximately 64% was classified as proved developed. As of September 30, 2010, it had approximately 1.1 million gross (.8 million net) acres of land (approximately 80% of which is undeveloped).

About Viper Energy

Viper Energy, Inc. engages in the acquisition of oil and natural gas properties. It owns, acquires, and exploits oil and natural gas properties in North America. The company was founded on February 27, 2014 and is headquartered in Midland, TX.