U.S. Energy (USEG) Competitors

Evolution Petroleum (NYSE:EPM) and U.S. Energy (NASDAQ:USEG) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment and earnings.

Do analysts recommend EPM or USEG?

Evolution Petroleum presently has a consensus price target of $6.10, suggesting a potential upside of 27.88%. U.S. Energy has a consensus price target of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 173.44%. Given U.S. Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe U.S. Energy is more favorable than Evolution Petroleum.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Evolution Petroleum	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
U.S. Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, EPM or USEG?

Evolution Petroleum has higher revenue and earnings than U.S. Energy. Evolution Petroleum is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than U.S. Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Evolution Petroleum	$85.96M	1.90	$4.08M	-$0.03	-159.00
U.S. Energy	$20.62M	2.11	-$25.78M	-$0.70	-1.83

Does the media prefer EPM or USEG?

In the previous week, Evolution Petroleum had 2 more articles in the media than U.S. Energy. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Evolution Petroleum and 0 mentions for U.S. Energy. Evolution Petroleum's average media sentiment score of 0.19 beat U.S. Energy's score of 0.00 indicating that Evolution Petroleum is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Evolution Petroleum	Neutral
U.S. Energy	Neutral

Is EPM or USEG more profitable?

Evolution Petroleum has a net margin of 2.04% compared to U.S. Energy's net margin of -111.12%. Evolution Petroleum's return on equity of 2.42% beat U.S. Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Evolution Petroleum	2.04%	2.42%	1.20%
U.S. Energy	-111.12%	-43.67%	-23.49%

Which has more risk & volatility, EPM or USEG?

Evolution Petroleum has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, U.S. Energy has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of EPM or USEG?

60.1% of Evolution Petroleum shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.0% of U.S. Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.1% of Evolution Petroleum shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 61.0% of U.S. Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Evolution Petroleum beats U.S. Energy on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.