Reviewing Anadarko Petroleum (NASDAQ:APC) and Barnwell Industries (NYSE:BRN)

Anadarko Petroleum (NASDAQ:APC) and Barnwell Industries (NYSE:BRN) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Anadarko Petroleum and Barnwell Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Anadarko Petroleum	-4.20%	10.49%	2.68%
Barnwell Industries	-34.01%	-48.90%	-22.57%

Volatility and Risk

Anadarko Petroleum has a beta of 1.64, meaning that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Barnwell Industries has a beta of -0.04, meaning that its share price is 104% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

85.2% of Anadarko Petroleum shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.7% of Barnwell Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Anadarko Petroleum shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.6% of Barnwell Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Anadarko Petroleum and Barnwell Industries”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Anadarko Petroleum	$5.58 billion	0.05	$615.00 million	$0.23	90.78
Barnwell Industries	$12.51 million	1.16	-$5.57 million	($0.64)	-1.80

Anadarko Petroleum has higher revenue and earnings than Barnwell Industries. Barnwell Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Anadarko Petroleum, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Anadarko Petroleum and Barnwell Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Anadarko Petroleum	0	1	3	2	3.17
Barnwell Industries	0	0	0	0	0.00

Anadarko Petroleum presently has a consensus price target of $21.60, indicating a potential upside of 3.45%. Given Anadarko Petroleum’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Anadarko Petroleum is more favorable than Barnwell Industries.

Dividends

Anadarko Petroleum pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Barnwell Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Anadarko Petroleum pays out 452.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Barnwell Industries pays out -1.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Anadarko Petroleum beats Barnwell Industries on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Anadarko Petroleum

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of oil and gas properties. It operates through three segments: Exploration and Production, WES Midstream, and Other Midstream. The company explores for and produces oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). It is also involved in gathering, processing, treating, and transporting oil, natural-gas, and NGLs production, as well as the gathering and disposal of produced water. The company's oil and natural gas properties are located in the United States onshore and deepwater Gulf of Mexico; and Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Colombia, Peru, and other countries. As of December 31, 2018, it had approximately 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent of proved reserves. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.

About Barnwell Industries

Barnwell Industries, Inc. acquires, develops, produces, and sells oil and natural gas in Canada. The company operates through three segments: Oil and Natural Gas, Land Investment, and Contract Drilling. It also acquires and develops crude oil and natural gas assets in the province of Alberta, as well as invests in land interests in Hawaii. In addition, the company owns and operates threes water well drilling rigs, two pump rigs, and other ancillary drilling and pump equipment; and drills water and water monitoring wells of varying depths. Further, it installs and repairs water pumping systems; and distributes trillium flow technologies. Barnwell Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1956 and is based in Honolulu, Hawaii.