Sundance Energy Australia (OTCMKTS:SDCJF) vs. Ecoark (NASDAQ:ZEST) Critical Contrast

Sundance Energy Australia (OTCMKTS:SDCJF – Get Rating) and Ecoark (NASDAQ:ZEST – Get Rating) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sundance Energy Australia and Ecoark’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sundance Energy Australia	$164.93 million	0.06	-$28.14 million	N/A	N/A
Ecoark	$25.60 million	2.41	-$9.93 million	($0.80)	-2.92

Ecoark has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Sundance Energy Australia.

Profitability

This table compares Sundance Energy Australia and Ecoark’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sundance Energy Australia	24.02%	13.45%	6.16%
Ecoark	-38.77%	-41.24%	-25.05%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

22.5% of Ecoark shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.4% of Ecoark shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Sundance Energy Australia and Ecoark, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sundance Energy Australia	0	0	0	0	N/A
Ecoark	0	0	0	0	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Sundance Energy Australia has a beta of 3.96, suggesting that its share price is 296% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ecoark has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Sundance Energy Australia beats Ecoark on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sundance Energy Australia

(Get Rating)

Sundance Energy Australia Limited operates as an onshore oil and gas company in the United States. The company explores for, develops, and produces oil and natural gas. Its exploration and development activities are focused on the Eagle Ford project in the South-Texas-Gulf Coast Basin. Sundance Energy Australia Limited was incorporated in 2004 and is based in Wayville, Australia.

About Ecoark

(Get Rating)

Ecoark Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in oil and gas, financial services, and food freshness management solution businesses in the United States. It engages in the exploration, production, and drilling of oil and gas properties in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, as well as provides transportation of frac sand and logistics services to hydraulic fracturing and drilling operations. The company also provides freshness management solutions for fresh food growers, suppliers, processors, distributors, grocers, and restaurants. In addition, it offers Zest Fresh solution, a cloud-based post-harvest shelf-life and freshness management solution that matches customer freshness requirements with actual product freshness and reduces post-harvest losses; and Zest Delivery solution, which provides real-time monitoring and control for prepared food delivery containers, and helps delivery and dispatch personnel to ensure the quality and safety of delivered food. Further, the company is involved in financial activities, including investing in various early stage startups. Ecoark Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is based in San Antonio, Texas.

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