Analyzing Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) and Universal Energy (OTCMKTS:UVSE)

Berry (NASDAQ:BRY) and Universal Energy (OTCMKTS:UVSE) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Berry has a beta of 1.72, suggesting that its share price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Universal Energy has a beta of 0.18, suggesting that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Berry and Universal Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Berry	0	1	0	0	2.00
Universal Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00

Berry presently has a consensus price target of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.55%. Given Berry’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Berry is more favorable than Universal Energy.

Profitability

This table compares Berry and Universal Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Berry	9.40%	6.50%	2.98%
Universal Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Berry and Universal Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Berry	$903.46 million	0.35	$37.40 million	$1.08	3.78
Universal Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Berry has higher revenue and earnings than Universal Energy.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.9% of Berry shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Berry shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Universal Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Berry beats Universal Energy on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Berry

Berry Petroleum Company, LLC., formerly Berry Petroleum Company, is an independent energy company. The Company is engaged in the production, development, exploitation, and acquisition of oil and natural gas. The Company’s principal reserves and producing properties are located in California (South Midway-Sunset (SMWSS)-Steam Floods, North Midway-Sunset (NMWSS)-Diatomite, NMWSS-New Steam Floods, Texas (Permian and E. Texas), Utah (Uinta) and Colorado (Piceance). The Company’s operations are conducted in the continental United States. In December 2013, Linn Energy LLC and Linn Co, LLC (Linn Co) announced the completion of the merger between LinnCo and Berry Petroleum Company (Berry), where LinnCo had acquired all of Berry’s interest.

About Universal Energy

Universal Energy Corp., an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and Canada. It has 13 oil and gas lease projects. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Lake Mary, Florida.