PHX Minerals (NYSE:PHX) vs. EQT (NYSE:EQT) Critical Contrast

PHX Minerals (NYSE:PHX) and EQT (NYSE:EQT) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

PHX Minerals has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EQT has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for PHX Minerals and EQT, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PHX Minerals	0	0	2	0	3.00
EQT	0	7	11	0	2.61

PHX Minerals presently has a consensus target price of $4.90, indicating a potential upside of 23.43%. EQT has a consensus target price of $47.83, indicating a potential downside of 2.36%. Given PHX Minerals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe PHX Minerals is more favorable than EQT.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

38.2% of PHX Minerals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.8% of EQT shares are held by institutional investors. 6.4% of PHX Minerals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of EQT shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares PHX Minerals and EQT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PHX Minerals	12.33%	4.16%	3.12%
EQT	5.52%	3.74%	2.12%

Dividends

PHX Minerals pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. EQT pays an annual dividend of $0.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. PHX Minerals pays out 123.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. EQT pays out 75.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares PHX Minerals and EQT”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PHX Minerals	$38.33 million	3.88	$13.92 million	$0.13	30.54
EQT	$4.79 billion	6.11	$1.74 billion	$0.84	58.32

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

Summary

EQT beats PHX Minerals on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PHX Minerals

PHX Minerals Inc. operates as a natural gas and oil mineral company in the United States. The company produces and sells natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. Its principal properties are located in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Arkansas. The company sells its products to various purchasers, including pipeline and marketing companies. The company was formerly known as Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. and changed its name to PHX Minerals Inc. in October 2020. PHX Minerals Inc. was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

About EQT

EQT Corporation operates as a natural gas production company in the United States. The company sells natural gas and natural gas liquids to marketers, utilities, and industrial customers through pipelines located in the Appalachian Basin. It also offers marketing services and contractual pipeline capacity management services. The company was formerly known as Equitable Resources Inc. and changed its name to EQT Corporation in February 2009. EQT Corporation was founded in 1878 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.