Critical Contrast: PEDEVCO (NYSE:PED) versus Whiting USA Trust II (OTCMKTS:WHZT)

Whiting USA Trust II (OTCMKTS:WHZT) and PEDEVCO (NYSE:PED) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Whiting USA Trust II has a beta of 1.54, suggesting that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PEDEVCO has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Whiting USA Trust II and PEDEVCO’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Whiting USA Trust II	$30.93 million	0.10	$270,000.00	N/A	N/A
PEDEVCO	$30.78 million	2.63	$260,000.00	$0.01	90.79

Whiting USA Trust II has higher revenue and earnings than PEDEVCO.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

3.3% of PEDEVCO shares are held by institutional investors. 71.1% of PEDEVCO shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Whiting USA Trust II and PEDEVCO’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Whiting USA Trust II	N/A	1,607.92%	588.52%
PEDEVCO	3.99%	1.31%	1.16%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Whiting USA Trust II and PEDEVCO, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Whiting USA Trust II	0	0	0	0	N/A
PEDEVCO	0	0	1	0	3.00

PEDEVCO has a consensus target price of $1.75, suggesting a potential upside of 92.94%. Given PEDEVCO’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe PEDEVCO is more favorable than Whiting USA Trust II.

Summary

PEDEVCO beats Whiting USA Trust II on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Whiting USA Trust II

Whiting USA Trust II is a statutory trust. The company was founded on December 5, 2011 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

About PEDEVCO

PEDEVCO Corp., an oil and gas company, focuses on the acquisition, development, and production of oil and natural gas assets in the United States. It holds interests in the Permian Basin asset covering an area of approximately 22,721 net acres located in New Mexico; and D-J Basin asset covering an area of approximately 19,214 net acres located in Wyoming. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas.