Critical Analysis: Prairie Operating (NASDAQ:PROP) & ONEOK (NYSE:OKE)

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) and Prairie Operating (NASDAQ:PROP) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares ONEOK and Prairie Operating’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ONEOK	9.29%	16.41%	5.48%
Prairie Operating	-13.02%	46.53%	5.51%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for ONEOK and Prairie Operating, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ONEOK	0	12	7	1	2.45
Prairie Operating	2	1	1	0	1.75

ONEOK currently has a consensus price target of $96.88, indicating a potential upside of 9.27%. Prairie Operating has a consensus price target of $2.50, indicating a potential upside of 553.77%. Given Prairie Operating’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Prairie Operating is more favorable than ONEOK.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ONEOK and Prairie Operating”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ONEOK	$33.63 billion	1.66	$3.39 billion	$5.80	15.29
Prairie Operating	$241.65 million	0.18	$32.05 million	($2.05)	-0.19

ONEOK has higher revenue and earnings than Prairie Operating. Prairie Operating is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ONEOK, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

69.1% of ONEOK shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.3% of Prairie Operating shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of ONEOK shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of Prairie Operating shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

ONEOK has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Prairie Operating has a beta of 1.23, meaning that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

ONEOK beats Prairie Operating on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ONEOK

ONEOK, Inc. engages in gathering, processing, fractionation, storage, transportation, and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States. It operates through four segments: Natural Gas Gathering and Processing, Natural Gas Liquids, Natural Gas Pipelines, and Refined Products and Crude. The company owns natural gas gathering pipelines and processing plants in the Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountain regions; and provides midstream services to producers of NGLs. It also owns NGL gathering and distribution pipelines in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado; terminal and storage facilities in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois; NGL distribution pipelines in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana; transports refined petroleum products, including unleaded gasoline and diesel; and owns and operates truck- and rail-loading, and -unloading facilities connected to NGL fractionation, storage, and pipeline assets. In addition, the company transports and stores natural gas through regulated interstate and intrastate natural gas transmission pipelines, and natural gas storage facilities. Further, it owns and operates a parking garage in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma; and leases excess office space and rail cars. Additionally, the company transports, stores, and distributes refined products, NGLs, and crude oil, as well as conducts commodity-related activities, including liquids blending and marketing activities. It serves integrated and independent exploration and production companies; other NGL and natural gas gathering and processing companies; crude oil and natural gas production companies; utilities; industrial companies; natural gasoline distributors; propane distributors; municipalities; ethanol producers; petrochemical, refining, and marketing companies; and heating fuel users, refineries, and exporters. ONEOK, Inc. was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

About Prairie Operating

Prairie Operating Co., an independent energy company, engages in the development, exploration, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company holds assets in the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Colorado; and the Niobrara and Codell formations. Prairie Operating Co. is based in Houston Texas.