Contrasting Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) & Meren Energy (OTCMKTS:AOIFF)

Meren Energy (OTCMKTS:AOIFF) and Expand Energy (NASDAQ:EXE) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Meren Energy has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Expand Energy has a beta of 0.46, suggesting that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Meren Energy and Expand Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Meren Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00
Expand Energy	0	3	17	1	2.90

Expand Energy has a consensus target price of $130.33, indicating a potential upside of 19.04%. Given Expand Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Expand Energy is more favorable than Meren Energy.

Dividends

Meren Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.5%. Expand Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Meren Energy pays out -26.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Expand Energy pays out 65.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Meren Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Meren Energy and Expand Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Meren Energy	N/A	N/A	-$279.10 million	($0.52)	-2.83
Expand Energy	$4.24 billion	6.16	-$714.00 million	$3.52	31.11

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.9% of Expand Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Meren Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Expand Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Meren Energy and Expand Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Meren Energy	N/A	3.52%	1.68%
Expand Energy	7.99%	6.31%	4.02%

Summary

Expand Energy beats Meren Energy on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Meren Energy

Africa Oil Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an oil and gas exploration and production company in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. The company holds interests in producing and development assets in deep-water Nigeria, and development assets in Kenya. It also has a portfolio of exploration and appraisal assets in Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, as well as Guyana and Senegal Guinea Bissau Joint Development Zone. The company was formerly known as Canmex Minerals Corporation and changed its name to Africa Oil Corp. in August 2007. Africa Oil Corp. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Expand Energy

Expand Energy Corporation is an independent natural gas producer principally in the United States. Expand Energy Corporation, formerly known as Chesapeake Energy Corporation, is based in OKLAHOMA CITY.