U.S. Energy (USEG) Competitors

U.S. Energy (NASDAQ:USEG) and Gran Tierra Energy (NYSE:GTE) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability and valuation.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in USEG or GTE?

3.0% of U.S. Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 31.7% of Gran Tierra Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 61.0% of U.S. Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Gran Tierra Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to USEG or GTE?

In the previous week, U.S. Energy had 4 more articles in the media than Gran Tierra Energy. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for U.S. Energy and 2 mentions for Gran Tierra Energy. Gran Tierra Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat U.S. Energy's score of 0.66 indicating that Gran Tierra Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
U.S. Energy	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Gran Tierra Energy	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, USEG or GTE?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
U.S. Energy	$20.62M	2.00	-$25.78M	-$0.81	-1.43
Gran Tierra Energy	$621.68M	0.23	-$6.29M	-$1.90	-2.09

Do analysts prefer USEG or GTE?

U.S. Energy presently has a consensus price target of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 201.72%. Given U.S. Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe U.S. Energy is more favorable than Gran Tierra Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
U.S. Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Gran Tierra Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is USEG or GTE more profitable?

Gran Tierra Energy has a net margin of 7.17% compared to U.S. Energy's net margin of -174.90%. Gran Tierra Energy's return on equity of 11.36% beat U.S. Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
U.S. Energy	-174.90%	-60.68%	-33.31%
Gran Tierra Energy	7.17%	11.36%	3.28%

Which has more volatility and risk, USEG or GTE?

U.S. Energy has a beta of 0.5, indicating that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gran Tierra Energy has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Gran Tierra Energy beats U.S. Energy on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.