Reviewing YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) & Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG)

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) and YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Northern Oil and Gas and YPF Sociedad Anónima’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northern Oil and Gas	-25.35%	18.69%	6.85%
YPF Sociedad Anónima	9.42%	18.03%	6.94%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Northern Oil and Gas and YPF Sociedad Anónima”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northern Oil and Gas	$2.48 billion	1.20	$38.76 million	($5.18)	-5.36
YPF Sociedad Anónima	$18.45 billion	1.02	-$826.00 million	$1.90	25.16

Northern Oil and Gas has higher earnings, but lower revenue than YPF Sociedad Anónima. Northern Oil and Gas is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than YPF Sociedad Anónima, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.8% of Northern Oil and Gas shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.1% of YPF Sociedad Anónima shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Northern Oil and Gas shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Northern Oil and Gas and YPF Sociedad Anónima, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northern Oil and Gas	2	5	3	0	2.10
YPF Sociedad Anónima	0	3	3	0	2.50

Northern Oil and Gas currently has a consensus price target of $31.56, indicating a potential upside of 13.56%. YPF Sociedad Anónima has a consensus price target of $58.50, indicating a potential upside of 22.37%. Given YPF Sociedad Anónima’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe YPF Sociedad Anónima is more favorable than Northern Oil and Gas.

Risk & Volatility

Northern Oil and Gas has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, YPF Sociedad Anónima has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

YPF Sociedad Anónima beats Northern Oil and Gas on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Northern Oil and Gas

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc., an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It primarily holds interests in the Williston Basin, the Appalachian Basin, and the Permian Basin in the United States. The company is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

About YPF Sociedad Anónima

YPF Sociedad Anónima, an energy company, engages in the oil and gas upstream and downstream activities in Argentina. Its upstream operations include the exploration, exploitation, and production of crude oil, and natural gas. The company’s downstream operations include petrochemical production and crude oil refining; transportation and distribution refined and petrochemical products; commercialization of crude oil, petrochemical products, and specialties. Its gas and power operations include transportation, commercialization, and distribution of natural gas; operation of regasification terminals; conditioning, processing, and separation of natural gas; and power generation. The company had interests in oil and gas fields. It also had a retail distribution network and retail service stations. In addition, the company owns and operates refineries, as well as maintains terminal facilities Argentine ports. Further, it participates in power generation plants; offers diesel, fertilizers, lubricants, phytosanitary products, and ensiling bags; and supplies diesel, gasoline, fuel oil, coal, asphalts, paraffin, and sulfur, CO2, decanted oil, and aromatic extract. The company was incorporated in 1977 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.