Sundance Energy Australia (OTCMKTS:SDCJF) vs. Evolution Petroleum (NYSE:EPM) Head-To-Head Review

Sundance Energy Australia (OTCMKTS:SDCJF) and Evolution Petroleum (NYSE:EPM) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Sundance Energy Australia and Evolution Petroleum, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sundance Energy Australia	0	0	0	0	0.00
Evolution Petroleum	0	0	1	1	3.50

Evolution Petroleum has a consensus target price of $6.50, indicating a potential upside of 30.52%. Given Evolution Petroleum’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Evolution Petroleum is more favorable than Sundance Energy Australia.

Profitability

This table compares Sundance Energy Australia and Evolution Petroleum’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sundance Energy Australia	24.02%	13.45%	6.16%
Evolution Petroleum	2.04%	2.42%	1.20%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sundance Energy Australia and Evolution Petroleum”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sundance Energy Australia	$164.93 million	0.06	-$28.14 million	N/A	N/A
Evolution Petroleum	$86.42 million	1.97	$4.08 million	$0.05	99.60

Evolution Petroleum has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Sundance Energy Australia.

Volatility and Risk

Sundance Energy Australia has a beta of 3.96, suggesting that its share price is 296% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Evolution Petroleum has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

60.1% of Evolution Petroleum shares are held by institutional investors. 10.1% of Evolution Petroleum shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Evolution Petroleum beats Sundance Energy Australia on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sundance Energy Australia

Sundance Energy Australia Limited operates as an onshore oil and gas company in the United States. The company explores for, develops, and produces oil and natural gas. Its exploration and development activities are focused on the Eagle Ford project in the South-Texas-Gulf Coast Basin. Sundance Energy Australia Limited was incorporated in 2004 and is based in Wayville, Australia.

About Evolution Petroleum

Evolution Petroleum Corporation, an energy company, engages in the development, production, ownership, and exploitation of onshore oil and gas properties in the United States. The company holds a non-operated interests in the SCOOP and STACK plays located in Central Oklahoma; the Chaveroo Field situated in Chaves and Roosevelt Counties, New Mexico; the Jonah Field located in Sublette County, Wyoming; the Williston Basin situated in Williston, North Dakota; the Barnett Shale field located in North Texas; the Hamilton Dome situated in Hot Springs County, Wyoming; and the Delhi Field, an onshore CO2-EOR project located in northeast Louisiana in Franklin, Madison, and Richland Parishes, as well as small overriding royalty interests in four onshore central Texas wells. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Houston, Texas.