Reviewing Battalion Oil (NYSE:BATL) & Range Resources (NYSE:RRC)

Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) and Battalion Oil (NYSE:BATL) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.9% of Range Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.0% of Battalion Oil shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.5% of Range Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 62.0% of Battalion Oil shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Range Resources and Battalion Oil, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Range Resources	1	12	7	0	2.30
Battalion Oil	0	0	0	0	0.00

Range Resources presently has a consensus target price of $41.60, indicating a potential upside of 24.16%. Given Range Resources’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Range Resources is more favorable than Battalion Oil.

Risk and Volatility

Range Resources has a beta of 1.73, indicating that its stock price is 73% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Battalion Oil has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Range Resources	17.63%	13.69%	7.21%
Battalion Oil	12.02%	-137.74%	-11.27%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Range Resources and Battalion Oil”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Range Resources	$2.35 billion	3.45	$871.14 million	$1.10	30.46
Battalion Oil	$193.89 million	0.10	-$3.05 million	($4.31)	-0.28

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

Summary

Range Resources beats Battalion Oil on 13 of the 14 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 Battalion Oil

Battalion Oil Corporation, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, production, exploration, and development of onshore oil and natural gas assets in the United States. It holds interests in the Delaware Basin located in the counties of Pecos, Ward, Reeves, and Winkler, Texas. It serves independent marketers, and oil and natural gas and gas pipeline companies. The company was formerly known as Halcón Resources Corporation and changed its name to Battalion Oil Corporation in January 2020. Battalion Oil Corporation was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.