Financial Contrast: Japan Petroleum Exploration (OTCMKTS:JPTXF) versus Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM)

Japan Petroleum Exploration (OTCMKTS:JPTXF) and Viper Energy (NASDAQ:VNOM) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Japan Petroleum Exploration and Viper Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Japan Petroleum Exploration	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Viper Energy	$1.40 billion	10.92	-$68.00 million	$0.13	326.27

Japan Petroleum Exploration has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Viper Energy.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Japan Petroleum Exploration and Viper Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Japan Petroleum Exploration	0	0	0	0	0.00
Viper Energy	0	2	17	0	2.89

Viper Energy has a consensus target price of $57.07, suggesting a potential upside of 34.54%. Given Viper Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Viper Energy is more favorable than Japan Petroleum Exploration.

Profitability

This table compares Japan Petroleum Exploration and Viper Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Japan Petroleum Exploration	N/A	N/A	N/A
Viper Energy	2.89%	3.43%	2.85%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

11.1% of Japan Petroleum Exploration shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.7% of Viper Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Viper Energy shares are owned 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.

Summary

Viper Energy beats Japan Petroleum Exploration on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Japan Petroleum Exploration

Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, explores, develops, produces, and sells oil, natural gas, and other energy resources in Japan, Europe, North America, and the Middle East. It also owns and manages a gas pipeline network; and provides underground CO2 storage. In addition, the company is involved in well drilling contracting business; manufacturing and selling petroleum products; insurance agency activities; and sale and contracted transportation of crude oil. Further, it engages in the geological survey contracting services; geophysical exploration work, technology development, logging, and mud-logging contracting; purchase and sale of LNG, petroleum gas, etc.; development of solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and other renewable energy sources; real estate management; and operation and commissioning of natural power plants. Additionally, the company offers industrial disaster prevention, security, and drilling mud preparations; mud services; and geophysical exploration equipment. Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Viper Energy

Viper Energy, Inc. engages in the acquisition of oil and natural gas properties. It owns, acquires, and exploits oil and natural gas properties in North America. The company was founded on February 27, 2014 and is headquartered in Midland, TX.