Comparing Santos (OTCMKTS:STOSF) & Freehold Royalties (OTCMKTS:FRHLF)

Santos (OTCMKTS:STOSF) and Freehold Royalties (OTCMKTS:FRHLF) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Santos and Freehold Royalties”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Santos	N/A	N/A	N/A	($6.47)	-0.92
Freehold Royalties	$224.34 million	9.31	$65.69 million	$0.39	32.67

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

Profitability

This table compares Santos and Freehold Royalties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Santos	N/A	N/A	N/A
Freehold Royalties	29.91%	8.80%	6.46%

Dividends

Santos pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Freehold Royalties pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Santos pays out -4.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Freehold Royalties pays out 205.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

20.7% of Santos shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Santos and Freehold Royalties, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Santos	0	0	0	0	0.00
Freehold Royalties	0	5	0	0	2.00

Summary

Freehold Royalties beats Santos on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Santos

Santos Limited explores for, develops, produces, transports, and markets hydrocarbons in Australia and Papua New Guinea. The company's assets are located in the Cooper Basin, Queensland and NSW, Papua New Guinea, Western Australia, Northern Australia and Timor-Leste. It also holds an asset in Alaska, the United States; and engages in the development of decarbonization technologies, such as carbon capture and storage technologies. In addition, the company produces crude oil, liquefied petroleum gas, ethane, coal seam gas, liquefied natural gas, and condensate, as well as natural gas. Santos Limited was incorporated in 1954 and is headquartered in Adelaide, Australia.

About Freehold Royalties

Freehold Royalties Ltd. engages in the acquiring and managing royalty interests in the crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and potash properties in Western Canada and the United States. Freehold Royalties Ltd. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.