Financial Contrast: Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) & Sky Petroleum (OTCMKTS:SKPI)

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) and Sky Petroleum (OTCMKTS:SKPI) are both energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Range Resources has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sky Petroleum has a beta of -16.36, suggesting that its stock price is 1,736% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Range Resources and Sky Petroleum’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Range Resources	26.09%	18.64%	11.04%
Sky Petroleum	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.9% of Range Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Range Resources shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Range Resources and Sky Petroleum”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Range Resources	$3.12 billion	2.86	$658.02 million	$3.78	9.99
Sky Petroleum	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Range Resources has higher revenue and earnings than Sky Petroleum.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Range Resources and Sky Petroleum, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Range Resources	1	15	4	1	2.24
Sky Petroleum	0	0	0	0	0.00

Range Resources presently has a consensus price target of $43.33, indicating a potential upside of 14.78%. Given Range Resources’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Range Resources is more favorable than Sky Petroleum.

Summary

Range Resources beats Sky Petroleum on 11 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Range Resources

Range Resources Corporation operates as an independent natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, and condensate company in the United States. The company engages in the exploration, development, and acquisition of natural gas and crude oil properties located in the Appalachian region. It sells natural gas to utilities, marketing and midstream companies, and industrial users; NGLs to petrochemical end users, marketers/traders, and natural gas processors; and oil and condensate to crude oil processors, transporters, and refining and marketing companies. The company was formerly known as Lomak Petroleum Inc. and changed its name to Range Resources Corporation in August 1998. Range Resources Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

About Sky Petroleum

Sky Petroleum, Inc. acquires, explores, develops, and produces oil and natural gas properties of others under arrangements in which the company finances the costs in exchange for interests in the oil or natural gas revenue generated by the properties. It has a production sharing contract with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy of Albania for three exploration blocks, including Four, Five, and Dumre blocks in the Republic of Albania. The company was formerly known as Seaside Explorations, Inc. and changed its name to Sky Petroleum, Inc. in March 2005. Sky Petroleum, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is based in Frisco, Texas.