Head-To-Head Comparison: PetroQuest Energy (OTCMKTS:PQUE) vs. Greenfire Resources (NYSE:GFR)

Greenfire Resources (NYSE:GFR) and PetroQuest Energy (OTCMKTS:PQUE) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Greenfire Resources and PetroQuest Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

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

Greenfire Resources currently has a consensus target price of $10.50, indicating a potential upside of 46.44%. Given Greenfire Resources’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Greenfire Resources is more favorable than PetroQuest Energy.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Greenfire Resources	5.02%	5.40%	3.13%
PetroQuest Energy	-4.93%	N/A	-3.76%

Volatility & Risk

Greenfire Resources has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PetroQuest Energy has a beta of 1.56, suggesting that its stock price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Greenfire Resources and PetroQuest Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Greenfire Resources	$775.81 million	0.64	-$100.50 million	$0.35	20.49
PetroQuest Energy	$108.29 million	0.00	-$6.63 million	($0.55)	-0.04

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

88.9% of Greenfire Resources shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.6% of PetroQuest Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 20.0% of Greenfire Resources shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.8% of PetroQuest Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Greenfire Resources beats PetroQuest Energy on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About PetroQuest Energy

PetroQuest Energy, Inc. operates as an independent oil and gas company in Texas and Louisiana. The company acquires, explores for, develops, and operates oil and gas properties. As of December 31, 2017, it had estimated proved reserves of 1.8 million barrels of oil; 19.4 billion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas liquids; and 125.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas. PetroQuest Energy, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.