Analyzing Green Plains (GPRE) and REX American Resources Corporation (REX)

Green Plains (NASDAQ: GPRE) and REX American Resources Corporation (NYSE:REX) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

91.5% of REX American Resources Corporation shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.4% of Green Plains shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.2% of REX American Resources Corporation shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Green Plains and REX American Resources Corporation, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Green Plains	0	1	5	0	2.83
REX American Resources Corporation	0	1	0	0	2.00

Green Plains currently has a consensus price target of $27.00, suggesting a potential upside of 44.77%. REX American Resources Corporation has a consensus price target of $94.50, suggesting a potential downside of 0.82%. Given Green Plains’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Green Plains is more favorable than REX American Resources Corporation.

Profitability

This table compares Green Plains and REX American Resources Corporation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Green Plains	0.19%	0.68%	0.28%
REX American Resources Corporation	7.29%	8.96%	7.70%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Green Plains and REX American Resources Corporation’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Green Plains	$3.55 billion	0.22	$203.78 million	$0.17	109.71
REX American Resources Corporation	$466.72 million	1.34	$71.98 million	$5.17	18.43

Green Plains has higher revenue and earnings than REX American Resources Corporation. REX American Resources Corporation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Green Plains, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Green Plains has a beta of 1.42, suggesting that its stock price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, REX American Resources Corporation has a beta of 1.59, suggesting that its stock price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Green Plains pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. REX American Resources Corporation does not pay a dividend. Green Plains pays out 282.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

REX American Resources Corporation beats Green Plains on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

Green Plains Company Profile

Green Plains Inc. is an ethanol producer. The Company owns and operates assets throughout the ethanol value chain, including upstream, with grain handling and storage through its ethanol production facilities, and downstream, with marketing and distribution services. It operates through four segments: Ethanol Production, Agribusiness and Energy Services, Food and Food Ingredients, and Partnership. The ethanol production segment includes production of ethanol, distillers grains and corn oil. The agribusiness and energy services segment includes grain procurement. The food and food ingredients segment includes a cattle feedlot operation. The Company’s master limited partnership, Green Plains Partners LP (the partnership), provides fuel storage and transportation services by owning, operating, developing and acquiring ethanol and fuel storage tanks, terminals, transportation assets and other related assets and businesses.

REX American Resources Corporation Company Profile

Rex American Resources Corporation is a holding company. As of January 31, 2017, the Company had invested in three ethanol production entities. It operates through alternative energy segment. As of January 31, 2017, the Company’s ethanol investments include One Earth Energy, LLC (One Earth), NuGen Energy, LLC (NuGen) and Big River Resources, LLC (Big River). One Earth has its ethanol production facility in Gibson City, Illinois. NuGen operates an ethanol producing facility in Marion, South Dakota. Big River is a holding company for various entities, including Big River Resources West Burlington, LLC, which operates an ethanol plant in West Burlington, Iowa. Big River has interest in Big River United Energy, LLC, which operates an ethanol production facility located in Dyersville, Iowa. Big River has interest in an ethanol production facility, which is located in Boyceville, Wisconsin.