SM Energy (NYSE:SM – Get Free Report) and PEDEVCO (NYSE:PED – Get Free Report) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for SM Energy and PEDEVCO, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| SM Energy | 0 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2.64 |
| PEDEVCO | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 |
SM Energy currently has a consensus target price of $50.64, suggesting a potential upside of 24.78%. PEDEVCO has a consensus target price of $1.63, suggesting a potential upside of 96.73%. Given PEDEVCO’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe PEDEVCO is more favorable than SM Energy.
Valuation and Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| SM Energy | $2.44 billion | 1.90 | $817.88 million | $7.16 | 5.67 |
| PEDEVCO | $35.72 million | 2.07 | $260,000.00 | $0.02 | 41.30 |
SM Energy has higher revenue and earnings than PEDEVCO. SM Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PEDEVCO, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares SM Energy and PEDEVCO’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| SM Energy | 33.89% | 19.62% | 10.87% |
| PEDEVCO | 6.57% | 1.58% | 1.39% |
Risk & Volatility
SM Energy has a beta of 4.15, meaning that its stock price is 315% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PEDEVCO has a beta of 0.51, meaning that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
94.6% of SM Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.3% of PEDEVCO shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of SM Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 70.6% of PEDEVCO shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
SM Energy beats PEDEVCO on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About SM Energy
SM Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids in the state of Texas. It has working interests in oil and gas producing wells in the Midland Basin and South Texas. The company was formerly known as St. Mary Land & Exploration Company and changed its name to SM Energy Company in May 2010. SM Energy Company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
About PEDEVCO
PEDEVCO Corp., an oil and gas company, focuses on the acquisition, development, and production of oil and natural gas assets in the United States. It holds interests in the Permian Basin asset covering an area of approximately 22,721 net acres located in New Mexico; and D-J Basin asset covering an area of approximately 19,214 net acres located in Wyoming. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
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