Contrasting VOC Energy Trust (VOC) & InterOil (IOC)

VOC Energy Trust (NYSE: VOC) and InterOil (NYSE:IOC) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitabiliy and valuation.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VOC Energy Trust	86.69%	6.29%	6.29%
InterOil	-233.48%	-14.08%	-8.85%

Dividends

VOC Energy Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 18.8%. InterOil does not pay a dividend. VOC Energy Trust pays out 262.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Risk and Volatility

VOC Energy Trust has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, InterOil has a beta of 1.67, meaning that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for VOC Energy Trust and InterOil, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VOC Energy Trust	0	0	0	0	N/A
InterOil	0	2	0	0	2.00

InterOil has a consensus price target of $51.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.46%. Given InterOil’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe InterOil is more favorable than VOC Energy Trust.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

7.6% of VOC Energy Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.6% of InterOil shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VOC Energy Trust	$7.34 million	10.35	$5.44 million	$0.32	13.97
InterOil	N/A	N/A	N/A	($3.70)	-13.07

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

Summary

VOC Energy Trust beats InterOil on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

VOC Energy Trust Company Profile

VOC Energy Trust is a statutory trust formed by VOC Brazos Energy Partners, L.P. (VOC Brazos). The business and affairs of the Company are managed by The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as trustee. The Company was created to acquire and hold the net profits interest for the benefit of its unitholders. VOC Brazos’ properties include interests in approximately 820 gross producing wells covering over 91,490 gross acres. VOC Brazos’ properties are developed properties located in oil and natural gas producing regions of Kansas and Texas. VOC Brazos’ fields in the Central Kansas Uplift include Fairport Field, Chase-Silica Field and Marcotte Field. VOC Brazos’ fields in Western Kansas include the Bindley, Moore-Johnson and Wesley fields. VOC Brazos’ fields in South Central Kansas include the Gerberding, Spivey Grabs and Alford fields. VOC Brazos’ proved reserved in Texas are located in the Central Texas and East Texas areas.

InterOil Company Profile

InterOil Corporation (InterOil) is an oil and gas business with a sole focus on Papua New Guinea (PNG). The Company’s segments include Upstream and Corporate. The Upstream segment includes exploration, appraisal and development of hydrocarbon structures in PNG. The Corporate segment provides support to the Company’s other business segments through business development and improvement activities, general services, administration, human resources, executive management, financing and treasury, government affairs and investor relations. InterOil holds interests across over four exploration and approximately two production retention licenses in the Eastern Papuan Basin of Papua New Guinea. Its assets include the Elk, Antelope, Triceratops, Raptor and Bobcat fields in the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea, and exploration licenses covering approximately 16,000 square kilometers (over four million acres) in Papua New Guinea.