Contrasting Amplify Energy (NYSE:AMPY) & Prairie Operating (NASDAQ:PROP)

Prairie Operating (NASDAQ:PROP) and Amplify Energy (NYSE:AMPY) 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 analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

34.3% of Prairie Operating shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.8% of Amplify Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 42.0% of Prairie Operating shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Amplify Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Prairie Operating has a beta of 1.91, suggesting that its stock price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amplify Energy has a beta of 1.95, suggesting that its stock price is 95% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Prairie Operating and Amplify Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Prairie Operating	N/A	-377.86%	-103.26%
Amplify Energy	8.95%	7.40%	3.86%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Prairie Operating and Amplify Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Prairie Operating	$1.55 million	69.04	-$79.08 million	N/A	N/A
Amplify Energy	$311.56 million	0.85	$392.75 million	$0.73	9.12

Amplify Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Prairie Operating.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Prairie Operating and Amplify Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Prairie Operating	0	0	0	0	N/A
Amplify Energy	0	0	3	0	3.00

Amplify Energy has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 50.15%. Given Amplify Energy’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Amplify Energy is more favorable than Prairie Operating.

Summary

Amplify Energy beats Prairie Operating on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Prairie Operating

Prairie Operating Co., an independent energy company, engages in the development, exploration, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company holds assets in the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Colorado; and the Niobrara and Codell formations. Prairie Operating Co. is based in Houston 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.