Financial Contrast: VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC) and Amplify Energy (NYSE:AMPY)

VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC) and Amplify Energy (NYSE:AMPY) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for VOC Energy Trust and Amplify Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VOC Energy Trust	1	0	0	0	1.00
Amplify Energy	0	1	2	0	2.67

Amplify Energy has a consensus price target of $8.50, indicating a potential upside of 69.49%. Given Amplify Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Amplify Energy is more favorable than VOC Energy Trust.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

42.8% of Amplify Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 10.3% of Amplify Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VOC Energy Trust	$13.62 million	3.78	$12.41 million	$0.58	5.22
Amplify Energy	$294.68 million	0.69	$12.95 million	$0.35	14.33

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

Profitability

This table compares VOC Energy Trust and Amplify Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VOC Energy Trust	88.65%	83.54%	83.54%
Amplify Energy	5.64%	6.61%	3.59%

Volatility and Risk

VOC Energy Trust has a beta of 0.32, meaning that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amplify Energy has a beta of 0.44, meaning that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Amplify Energy beats VOC Energy Trust on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About VOC Energy Trust

VOC Energy Trust acquires and holds a term net profits interest of the net proceeds from production and sale of the interests in oil and natural gas properties in the states of Kansas and Texas. The company has an 80% term net profits interest of the net proceeds on the underlying properties. As of December 31, 2021, its underlying properties had interests in 452.5 net producing wells and 51,147.2 net acres. VOC Energy Trust was incorporated in 2010 and is based in Houston, Texas.

About Amplify Energy

Amplify Energy Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, development, exploitation, and production of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. The company’s properties consist of operated and non-operated working interests in producing and undeveloped leasehold acreage, as well as working interests in identified producing wells located in Oklahoma, the Rockies, federal waters offshore Southern California, East Texas/North Louisiana, and Eagle Ford. The company is based in Houston, Texas.