Analyzing Marine Petroleum Trust (NASDAQ:MARPS) & Dorchester Minerals (NASDAQ:DMLP)

Marine Petroleum Trust (NASDAQ:MARPS) and Dorchester Minerals (NASDAQ:DMLP) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Marine Petroleum Trust has a beta of -0.04, meaning that its stock price is 104% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dorchester Minerals has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Marine Petroleum Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. Dorchester Minerals pays an annual dividend of $2.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.3%. Marine Petroleum Trust 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. Dorchester Minerals pays out 144.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Marine Petroleum Trust and Dorchester Minerals”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marine Petroleum Trust	$1.04 million	8.77	$730,000.00	$0.36	12.67
Dorchester Minerals	$161.52 million	7.09	$89.20 million	$1.72	14.06

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.8% of Marine Petroleum Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.2% of Dorchester Minerals shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.9% of Dorchester Minerals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Marine Petroleum Trust and Dorchester Minerals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marine Petroleum Trust	0	1	0	0	2.00
Dorchester Minerals	0	1	0	0	2.00

Profitability

This table compares Marine Petroleum Trust and Dorchester Minerals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marine Petroleum Trust	69.73%	76.87%	76.87%
Dorchester Minerals	47.35%	22.49%	22.12%

Summary

Dorchester Minerals beats Marine Petroleum Trust on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Marine Petroleum Trust

Marine Petroleum Trust, together with its subsidiary, Marine Petroleum Corporation, operates as a royalty trust in the United States. It has overriding royalty interest in oil and natural gas leases in the Central and Western areas of the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas. Marine Petroleum Trust was founded in 1956 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

About Dorchester Minerals

Dorchester Minerals, L.P. engages in the acquisition, ownership, and administration of royalty properties in the United States. Its royalty properties include producing and nonproducing mineral, royalty, overriding royalty, net profits, and leasehold interests in 593 counties and parishes in 28 states; and net profits interests represent net profits overriding royalty interests in various properties owned by the operating partnership. Dorchester Minerals Management LP serves as the general partner of Dorchester Minerals, L.P. The company was founded in 1982 and is based in Dallas, Texas.