QEP Resources (NYSE: QEP) and InterOil (NYSE:IOC) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation and risk.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for QEP Resources and InterOil, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| QEP Resources | 0 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 2.63 |
| InterOil | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
QEP Resources currently has a consensus target price of $16.71, suggesting a potential upside of 123.15%. Given QEP Resources’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe QEP Resources is more favorable than InterOil.
Volatility & Risk
QEP Resources has a beta of 1.68, meaning that its share price is 68% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, InterOil has a beta of 1.67, meaning that its share price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares QEP Resources and InterOil’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| QEP Resources | $1.59 billion | 1.13 | $822.60 million | ($0.26) | -28.81 |
| InterOil | N/A | N/A | N/A | ($3.70) | -13.07 |
QEP Resources has higher revenue and earnings than InterOil. QEP Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than InterOil, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
91.9% of QEP Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.6% of InterOil shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of QEP Resources shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares QEP Resources and InterOil’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| QEP Resources | -3.90% | -4.24% | -2.10% |
| InterOil | -233.48% | -14.08% | -8.85% |
Summary
QEP Resources beats InterOil on 11 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.
QEP Resources Company Profile
QEP Resources, Inc. is an independent crude oil and natural gas exploration and production company. The Company focuses on two regions of the United States: the Northern Region (primarily in North Dakota, Wyoming and Utah) and the Southern Region (primarily in Texas and Louisiana). The Company conducts exploration and production activities in North America’s hydrocarbon resource plays. The Company has an inventory of developed and undeveloped drilling locations in the Permian Basin in western Texas, the Williston Basin in North Dakota, Haynesville/Cotton Valley in northwestern Louisiana, the Pinedale Anticline (Pinedale) in western Wyoming, the Uinta Basin in eastern Utah and other properties in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. It sells gas volumes to wholesale marketers, industrial users, local distribution companies and utilities. It sells oil and natural gas liquid (NGL) volumes to refiners, marketers and other companies.
InterOil Company Profile
InterOil Corporation (InterOil) is an oil and gas business with a sole focus on Papua New Guinea (PNG). The Company’s segments include Upstream and Corporate. The Upstream segment includes exploration, appraisal and development of hydrocarbon structures in PNG. The Corporate segment provides support to the Company’s other business segments through business development and improvement activities, general services, administration, human resources, executive management, financing and treasury, government affairs and investor relations. InterOil holds interests across over four exploration and approximately two production retention licenses in the Eastern Papuan Basin of Papua New Guinea. Its assets include the Elk, Antelope, Triceratops, Raptor and Bobcat fields in the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea, and exploration licenses covering approximately 16,000 square kilometers (over four million acres) in Papua New Guinea.
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