Financial Analysis: Universal Energy (OTCMKTS:UVSE) versus EQT (NYSE:EQT)

Universal Energy (OTCMKTS:UVSE) and EQT (NYSE:EQT) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Universal Energy and EQT, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Universal Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00
EQT	0	6	21	1	2.82

EQT has a consensus price target of $68.04, indicating a potential upside of 29.16%. Given EQT’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe EQT is more favorable than Universal Energy.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.8% of EQT shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Universal Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of EQT shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Universal Energy and EQT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Universal Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A
EQT	31.94%	9.74%	6.40%

Risk and Volatility

Universal Energy has a beta of 0.25, indicating that its stock price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EQT has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Universal Energy and EQT”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Universal Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
EQT	$8.64 billion	3.81	$2.04 billion	$5.27	10.00

EQT has higher revenue and earnings than Universal Energy.

Summary

EQT beats Universal Energy on 11 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Universal Energy

Universal Energy Corp., an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and Canada. It has 13 oil and gas lease projects. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Lake Mary, Florida.

About EQT

EQT Corporation operates as a natural gas production company in the United States. The company sells natural gas and natural gas liquids to marketers, utilities, and industrial customers through pipelines located in the Appalachian Basin. It also offers marketing services and contractual pipeline capacity management services. The company was formerly known as Equitable Resources Inc. and changed its name to EQT Corporation in February 2009. EQT Corporation was founded in 1878 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.