Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU) and Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) Critical Review

Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND) and Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Smart Sand and Energy Fuels’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smart Sand	-1.96%	-1.74%	-1.23%
Energy Fuels	-90.40%	-9.16%	-8.67%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Smart Sand and Energy Fuels”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smart Sand	$295.97 million	0.34	$4.65 million	($0.14)	-16.53
Energy Fuels	$37.93 million	36.22	$99.86 million	($0.22)	-32.16

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

35.2% of Smart Sand shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.2% of Energy Fuels shares are held by institutional investors. 32.3% of Smart Sand shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Energy Fuels shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Smart Sand and Energy Fuels, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smart Sand	0	2	0	0	2.00
Energy Fuels	0	2	2	0	2.50

Smart Sand currently has a consensus price target of $2.63, indicating a potential upside of 13.39%. Energy Fuels has a consensus price target of $8.50, indicating a potential upside of 20.14%. Given Energy Fuels’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Energy Fuels is more favorable than Smart Sand.

Risk and Volatility

Smart Sand has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Energy Fuels has a beta of 1.6, indicating that its share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500.

About Smart Sand

Smart Sand, Inc., an integrated frac and industrial sand supply and services company, engages in the excavation, processing, and sale of sands or proppant for use in hydraulic fracturing operations in the oil and gas industry in the United States. It also provides proppant logistics services; and wellsite storage solutions through SmartSystems products and services. The company sells its products primarily to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies, oilfield service companies, and industrial manufacturers. Smart Sand, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Spring, Texas.

About Energy Fuels

Energy Fuels Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the extraction, recovery, recycling, exploration, permitting, evaluation, and sale of uranium mineral properties in the United States. The company produces and sells vanadium pentoxide, rare earth elements, and heavy mineral sands, such as ilmenite, rutile, zircon, and monazite. The company was formerly known as Volcanic Metals Exploration Inc. and changed its name to Energy Fuels Inc. in May 2006. Energy Fuels Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado.