Head to Head Review: VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC) vs. PEDEVCO (NYSE:PED)

VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC) and PEDEVCO (NYSE:PED) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

VOC Energy Trust has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PEDEVCO has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares VOC Energy Trust and PEDEVCO’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VOC Energy Trust	90.84%	102.62%	102.62%
PEDEVCO	1.12%	0.38%	0.33%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for VOC Energy Trust and PEDEVCO, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VOC Energy Trust	0	0	0	0	0.00
PEDEVCO	0	0	1	0	3.00

PEDEVCO has a consensus price target of $1.75, suggesting a potential upside of 100.09%. Given PEDEVCO’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe PEDEVCO is more favorable than VOC Energy Trust.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

3.3% of PEDEVCO shares are held by institutional investors. 70.6% of PEDEVCO shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares VOC Energy Trust and PEDEVCO”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VOC Energy Trust	$16.46 million	5.24	$15.22 million	$0.78	6.50
PEDEVCO	$30.78 million	2.54	$260,000.00	$0.00	-87,460.00

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

Summary

VOC Energy Trust beats PEDEVCO on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About VOC Energy Trust

VOC Energy Trust acquires and holds a term net profits interest of the net proceeds from production and sale of the interests in oil and natural gas properties in the states of Kansas and Texas. The company has an 80% term net profits interest of the net proceeds on the underlying properties. As of December 31, 2021, its underlying properties had interests in 452.5 net producing wells and 51,147.2 net acres. VOC Energy Trust was incorporated in 2010 and is based in Houston, Texas.

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.