SM Energy (NYSE:SM) and PEDEVCO (NYSE:PED) Head-To-Head Survey

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares PEDEVCO and SM Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PEDEVCO	$35.72 million	2.07	$260,000.00	$0.02	41.30
SM Energy	$2.44 billion	1.90	$817.88 million	$7.16	5.67

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.

Volatility & Risk

PEDEVCO has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SM Energy has a beta of 4.14, meaning that its share price is 314% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PEDEVCO	6.57%	1.58%	1.39%
SM Energy	33.89%	19.62%	10.87%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for PEDEVCO and SM Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PEDEVCO	0	0	2	0	3.00
SM Energy	0	6	7	1	2.64

PEDEVCO currently has a consensus price target of $1.63, suggesting a potential upside of 96.73%. SM Energy has a consensus price target of $50.64, suggesting a potential upside of 24.78%. Given PEDEVCO’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe PEDEVCO is more favorable than SM Energy.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

3.3% of PEDEVCO shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.6% of SM Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 70.6% of PEDEVCO shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of SM Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments 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 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.

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.