U.S. Energy (NASDAQ:USEG) & Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) Head to Head Analysis

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) and U.S. Energy (NASDAQ:USEG) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras and U.S. Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras	16.96%	29.35%	10.79%
U.S. Energy	-141.51%	-71.83%	-39.03%

Dividends

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras pays an annual dividend of $1.61 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.5%. U.S. Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.7%. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras pays out 138.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. U.S. Energy pays out -9.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras and U.S. Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras	0	1	6	1	3.00
U.S. Energy	0	0	1	0	3.00

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras presently has a consensus target price of $17.81, suggesting a potential upside of 27.02%. U.S. Energy has a consensus target price of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 197.87%. Given U.S. Energy’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe U.S. Energy is more favorable than Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

3.0% of U.S. Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 70.9% of U.S. Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras has a beta of 1.39, meaning that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, U.S. Energy has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras and U.S. Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras	$91.42 billion	0.99	$24.88 billion	$1.16	12.09
U.S. Energy	$20.62 million	1.93	-$32.36 million	($0.98)	-1.20

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

Summary

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras beats U.S. Energy on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily for supplies to the domestic refineries. The Refining, Transportation and Marketing segment engages in the refining, logistics, transport, acquisition, and exports of crude oil; and production of fertilizers, as well as holding interests in petrochemical companies. The Gas and Power segment is involved in the logistic and trading of natural gas and electricity; transportation and trading of LNG; generation of electricity through thermoelectric power plants; renewable energy businesses; low carbon services; and natural gas processing business, as well as production of biodiesel and its co-products. The company also engages in prospecting, drilling, refining, processing, trading, and transporting crude oil from producing onshore and offshore oil fields, and shale or other rocks, as well as oil products, natural gas, and other liquid hydrocarbons. In addition, it engages in research, development, production, transport, distribution, and trading of energy. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras was incorporated in 1953 and is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

About U.S. Energy

U.S. Energy Corp., an independent energy company, focuses on the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It holds interests in various oil and gas properties located in the Rockies region, including Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota; the Mid-Continent region comprising Oklahoma, Kansas, and North and East Texas; West Texas; South Texas; and the Gulf Coast regions. The company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.