Contrasting Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) and Diversified Energy (NYSE:DEC)

Diversified Energy (NYSE:DEC) and Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Diversified Energy and Range Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Diversified Energy	0	0	0	0	N/A
Range Resources	3	9	6	0	2.17

Range Resources has a consensus target price of $34.79, indicating a potential upside of 1.31%. Given Range Resources’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Range Resources is more favorable than Diversified Energy.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Diversified Energy and Range Resources’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Diversified Energy	$868.26 million	0.63	N/A	N/A	N/A
Range Resources	$3.37 billion	2.46	$871.14 million	$3.54	9.70

Range Resources has higher revenue and earnings than Diversified Energy.

Profitability

This table compares Diversified Energy and Range Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Diversified Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A
Range Resources	25.82%	15.87%	7.96%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

26.5% of Diversified Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.9% of Range Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Range Resources shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Diversified Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Range Resources pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Range Resources pays out 9.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Range Resources beats Diversified Energy on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Diversified Energy

Diversified Energy Company PLC operates as an independent owner and operator of producing natural gas and oil wells primarily in the Appalachian Basin of the United States. The company is involved in the production, marketing, and transportation of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, and condensates. Its assets consist of natural gas wells and gathering systems located in the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana. The company was formerly known as Diversified Gas & Oil PLC and changed its name to Diversified Energy Company PLC in May 2021. Diversified Energy Company PLC was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

About Range Resources

Range Resources Corporation operates as an independent natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, and condensate company in the United States. The company engages in the exploration, development, and acquisition of natural gas and crude oil properties located in the Appalachian region. It sells natural gas to utilities, marketing and midstream companies, and industrial users; NGLs to petrochemical end users, marketers/traders, and natural gas processors; and oil and condensate to crude oil processors, transporters, and refining and marketing companies. The company was formerly known as Lomak Petroleum Inc. and changed its name to Range Resources Corporation in August 1998. Range Resources Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.