Head-To-Head Comparison: Greenfire Resources (NYSE:GFR) vs. Mexco Energy (NYSE:MXC)

Mexco Energy (NYSE:MXC) and Greenfire Resources (NYSE:GFR) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Mexco Energy and Greenfire Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mexco Energy	17.59%	6.94%	6.37%
Greenfire Resources	5.02%	5.40%	3.13%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

5.9% of Mexco Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.9% of Greenfire Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 53.0% of Mexco Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.0% of Greenfire Resources shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Mexco Energy and Greenfire Resources, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mexco Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00
Greenfire Resources	0	0	1	0	3.00

Greenfire Resources has a consensus target price of $10.50, indicating a potential upside of 46.24%. Given Greenfire Resources’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Greenfire Resources is more favorable than Mexco Energy.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Mexco Energy and Greenfire Resources”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mexco Energy	$6.93 million	3.72	$1.35 million	$0.57	22.12
Greenfire Resources	$775.81 million	0.64	-$100.50 million	$0.35	20.51

Mexco Energy has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Greenfire Resources. Greenfire Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mexco Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Mexco Energy has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greenfire Resources has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Mexco Energy beats Greenfire Resources on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mexco Energy

Mexco Energy Corporation, an independent oil and gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of natural gas, crude oil, condensate, and natural gas liquids in the United States. It owns partial interests in approximately 6,400 gross producing wells located in the states of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Wyoming, Kansas, Colorado, Montana, Virginia, North Dakota, and Ohio. It also owned leasehold mineral, royalty, and other interests in approximately 2,768 net acres. The company was formerly known as Miller Oil Company and changed its name to Mexco Energy Corporation in April 1980. Mexco Energy Corporation was incorporated in 1972 and is based in Midland, Texas.

About Greenfire Resources

Greenfire Resources Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, exploration, and operation of oil and gas properties in the Athabasca oil sands region of Alberta. The company operates the Tier-1 oil sands assets located in Western Canada. It utilizes steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) extraction technology, a situ thermal oil recovery process to recover diluted and non- diluted bitumen. The company is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.