Critical Comparison: Teekay Tankers (NYSE:TNK) & Saratoga Resources (OTCMKTS:SARA)

Saratoga Resources (OTCMKTS:SARA) and Teekay Tankers (NYSE:TNK) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

52.7% of Teekay Tankers shares are owned by institutional investors. 31.0% of Saratoga Resources shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Teekay Tankers shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Saratoga Resources has a beta of 12.1, indicating that its stock price is 1,110% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Teekay Tankers has a beta of -0.22, indicating that its stock price is 122% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Saratoga Resources and Teekay Tankers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Saratoga Resources	0	0	0	0	0.00
Teekay Tankers	1	3	3	1	2.50

Teekay Tankers has a consensus target price of $77.00, indicating a potential downside of 15.28%. Given Teekay Tankers’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Teekay Tankers is more favorable than Saratoga Resources.

Profitability

This table compares Saratoga Resources and Teekay Tankers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Saratoga Resources	N/A	N/A	N/A
Teekay Tankers	51.35%	22.11%	20.23%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Saratoga Resources and Teekay Tankers”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Saratoga Resources	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Teekay Tankers	$951.80 million	3.30	$351.19 million	$16.97	5.36

Teekay Tankers has higher revenue and earnings than Saratoga Resources.

Summary

Teekay Tankers beats Saratoga Resources on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Saratoga Resources

Saratoga Resources, Inc., an independent oil and natural gas company, acquires, exploits, develops, and produces crude oil and natural gas properties in the United States. Its properties consist of approximately 51,500 acres under leases, including 31,700 acres gross/net located in the transitional coastline in protected in-bay environments on parish and state leases in south Louisiana; and 19,800 acres gross/net under federal leases in the shallow Gulf of Mexico shelf. As of December 31, 2014, the company had proved reserves of 10.2 million barrels of crude oil equivalent (MMBoe), including 5.8 million barrels of oil (MMBbls), and 26.6 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas; and 25.9 MMBoe comprising of 10.4 MMBbls, and 93.2 Bcf of natural gas. Saratoga Resources, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Teekay Tankers

Teekay Tankers Ltd. provides crude oil and other marine transportation services to oil industries in Bermuda and internationally. The company offers voyage and time charter services; offshore ship-to-ship transfer services of commodities primarily crude oil and refined oil products; and tanker commercial and technical management services. It also engages management of vessels, procurement, and equipment rental businesses. Teekay Tankers Ltd. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.