Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) versus SunocoCorp (NYSE:SUNC) Critical Survey

SunocoCorp (NYSE:SUNC) and Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Dividends

SunocoCorp pays an annual dividend of $4.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Matador Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. SunocoCorp pays out 138.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Matador Resources pays out 25.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Matador Resources has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares SunocoCorp and Matador Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SunocoCorp	N/A	N/A	N/A
Matador Resources	19.85%	13.18%	6.46%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for SunocoCorp and Matador Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SunocoCorp	1	1	3	1	2.67
Matador Resources	0	4	12	1	2.82

SunocoCorp currently has a consensus price target of $81.00, suggesting a potential downside of 0.43%. Matador Resources has a consensus price target of $65.93, suggesting a potential upside of 7.92%. Given Matador Resources’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Matador Resources is more favorable than SunocoCorp.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.0% of Matador Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 5.9% of Matador Resources shares are held 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SunocoCorp and Matador Resources”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SunocoCorp	$25.20 billion	0.17	-$5.00 million	$2.89	28.15
Matador Resources	$3.70 billion	2.05	$759.22 million	$5.83	10.48

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

Summary

Matador Resources beats SunocoCorp on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SunocoCorp

Sunoco LP is an energy infrastructure and fuel distribution master limited partnership. Sunoco LP is based in DALLAS.

About Matador Resources

Matador Resources Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production; and Midstream. The company primarily holds interests in the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas. It also operates the Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas; and the Haynesville shale and Cotton Valley plays in Northwest Louisiana. In addition, the company conducts midstream operations in support of its exploration, development, and production operations. Further, it provides natural gas processing and oil transportation services; and oil, natural gas, and produced water gathering services, as well as produced water disposal services to third parties. The company sells natural gas to unaffiliated independent marketing companies and unaffiliated midstream companies. The company was formerly known as Matador Holdco, Inc. and changed its name to Matador Resources Company in August 2011. Matador Resources Company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.