U.S. Energy (NASDAQ:USEG – Get Free Report) and Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR – Get Free Report) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.
Dividends
U.S. Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.7%. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras pays an annual dividend of $1.61 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.5%. U.S. Energy pays out -9.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras pays out 138.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for U.S. Energy and Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| U.S. Energy | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3.00 |
Profitability
This table compares U.S. Energy and Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| U.S. Energy | -141.51% | -71.83% | -39.03% |
| Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras | 16.96% | 29.35% | 10.79% |
Risk & Volatility
U.S. Energy has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares U.S. Energy and Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| U.S. Energy | $20.62 million | 1.93 | -$32.36 million | ($0.98) | -1.20 |
| Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras | $91.42 billion | 0.99 | $24.88 billion | $1.16 | 12.09 |
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras has higher revenue and earnings than U.S. Energy. U.S. Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
3.0% of U.S. Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 70.9% of U.S. Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras beats U.S. Energy on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About U.S. Energy
U.S. Energy Corp., an independent energy company, focuses on the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It holds interests in various oil and gas properties located in the Rockies region, including Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota; the Mid-Continent region comprising Oklahoma, Kansas, and North and East Texas; West Texas; South Texas; and the Gulf Coast regions. The company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
About Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily for supplies to the domestic refineries. The Refining, Transportation and Marketing segment engages in the refining, logistics, transport, acquisition, and exports of crude oil; and production of fertilizers, as well as holding interests in petrochemical companies. The Gas and Power segment is involved in the logistic and trading of natural gas and electricity; transportation and trading of LNG; generation of electricity through thermoelectric power plants; renewable energy businesses; low carbon services; and natural gas processing business, as well as production of biodiesel and its co-products. The company also engages in prospecting, drilling, refining, processing, trading, and transporting crude oil from producing onshore and offshore oil fields, and shale or other rocks, as well as oil products, natural gas, and other liquid hydrocarbons. In addition, it engages in research, development, production, transport, distribution, and trading of energy. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras was incorporated in 1953 and is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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