Financial Comparison: Evolution Petroleum (NYSE:EPM) versus ATP Oil & Gas (OTCMKTS:ATPAQ)

Evolution Petroleum (NYSE:EPM) and ATP Oil & Gas (OTCMKTS:ATPAQ) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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

Profitability

This table compares Evolution Petroleum and ATP Oil & Gas’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Evolution Petroleum	2.04%	2.42%	1.20%
ATP Oil & Gas	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Evolution Petroleum and ATP Oil & Gas, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Evolution Petroleum	1	1	2	0	2.25
ATP Oil & Gas	0	0	0	0	0.00

Evolution Petroleum presently has a consensus target price of $6.10, suggesting a potential upside of 35.25%. Given Evolution Petroleum’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Evolution Petroleum is more favorable than ATP Oil & Gas.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Evolution Petroleum and ATP Oil & Gas”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Evolution Petroleum	$85.84 million	1.81	$4.08 million	$0.03	150.33
ATP Oil & Gas	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Evolution Petroleum has higher revenue and earnings than ATP Oil & Gas.

Summary

Evolution Petroleum beats ATP Oil & Gas on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About ATP Oil & Gas

ATP Oil & Gas Corporation is engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas properties. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had estimated net proved reserves of 118.9 Million barrels of crude oil equivalent (MMBoe), of which approximately 75.9 MMboe (64%) were in the Gulf of Mexico and 42.9 MMBoe (36%) were in the North Sea. The reserves consisted of 78.6 Million barrels (MMBbls) of oil (66%) and 241.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas (34%). Its proved reserves in the deepwater area of the Gulf of Mexico account for 62% of the Company’s total proved reserves and its proved reserves on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf account for 2% of its total proved reserves. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it acquired three licenses in the Mediterranean Sea covering potential natural gas resources in the deepwater off the coast of Israel (East Mediterranean). On August 17, 2012, ATP Oil And Gas Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.