Reviewing VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC) & HighPeak Energy (NASDAQ:HPK)

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

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares VOC Energy Trust and HighPeak Energy”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VOC Energy Trust	$8.62 million	6.87	$7.39 million	$0.44	7.92
HighPeak Energy	$863.36 million	0.91	$18.96 million	$0.09	69.33

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for VOC Energy Trust and HighPeak 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
HighPeak Energy	1	1	0	1	2.33

HighPeak Energy has a consensus target price of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 92.31%. Given HighPeak Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe HighPeak Energy is more favorable than VOC Energy Trust.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

24.1% of HighPeak Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 78.9% of HighPeak Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

VOC Energy Trust has a beta of 0.23, meaning that its stock price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HighPeak Energy has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VOC Energy Trust	85.78%	67.64%	67.64%
HighPeak Energy	2.33%	2.11%	1.09%

Summary

HighPeak 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 HighPeak Energy

HighPeak Energy, Inc., an independent oil and natural gas company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. The company was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.