Comparing Amplify Energy (NYSE:AMPY) and Zion Oil & Gas (OTCMKTS:ZNOG)

Zion Oil & Gas (OTCMKTS:ZNOG) and Amplify Energy (NYSE:AMPY) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Zion Oil & Gas has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amplify Energy has a beta of -0.12, meaning that its share price is 112% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Zion Oil & Gas and Amplify Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zion Oil & Gas	0	0	0	0	0.00
Amplify Energy	1	0	2	0	2.33

Amplify Energy has a consensus price target of $7.25, suggesting a potential upside of 53.76%. Given Amplify Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Amplify Energy is more favorable than Zion Oil & Gas.

Profitability

This table compares Zion Oil & Gas and Amplify Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zion Oil & Gas	N/A	-19.89%	-18.12%
Amplify Energy	-10.10%	-0.40%	-0.22%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

7.9% of Zion Oil & Gas shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.8% of Amplify Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Zion Oil & Gas shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.3% of Amplify Energy shares are owned 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Zion Oil & Gas and Amplify Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zion Oil & Gas	N/A	N/A	-$7.34 million	($1.77)	-0.24
Amplify Energy	$294.68 million	0.65	$12.95 million	($0.71)	-6.64

Amplify Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Zion Oil & Gas. Amplify Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zion Oil & Gas, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Amplify Energy beats Zion Oil & Gas on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zion Oil & Gas

Zion Oil & Gas, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an oil and gas exploration company in Israel. It holds a petroleum exploration license onshore Israel, the New Megiddo License 434 comprising an area of approximately 75,000 acres. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

About Amplify Energy

Amplify Energy Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, development, exploitation, and production of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. The company’s properties consist of operated and non-operated working interests in producing and undeveloped leasehold acreage, as well as working interests in identified producing wells located in Oklahoma, the Rockies, federal waters offshore Southern California, East Texas/North Louisiana, and Eagle Ford. The company is based in Houston, Texas.