Comparing Gran Tierra Energy (NYSE:GTE) & ECA Marcellus Trust I (OTCMKTS:ECT)

Gran Tierra Energy (NYSE:GTE) and ECA Marcellus Trust I (OTCMKTS:ECT) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Gran Tierra Energy and ECA Marcellus Trust I, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gran Tierra Energy	0	3	1	0	2.25
ECA Marcellus Trust I	0	0	0	0	0.00

Gran Tierra Energy currently has a consensus target price of $5.45, suggesting a potential upside of 2.44%. Given Gran Tierra Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Gran Tierra Energy is more favorable than ECA Marcellus Trust I.

Profitability

This table compares Gran Tierra Energy and ECA Marcellus Trust I’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gran Tierra Energy	7.17%	11.36%	3.28%
ECA Marcellus Trust I	46.53%	4.37%	4.32%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

31.7% of Gran Tierra Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.0% of ECA Marcellus Trust I shares are held by institutional investors. 6.5% of Gran Tierra Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Gran Tierra Energy has a beta of 0.43, suggesting that its stock price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ECA Marcellus Trust I has a beta of 2, suggesting that its stock price is 100% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Gran Tierra Energy and ECA Marcellus Trust I”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gran Tierra Energy	$614.07 million	0.31	-$6.29 million	($2.51)	-2.12
ECA Marcellus Trust I	$4.15 million	1.70	$2.90 million	N/A	N/A

ECA Marcellus Trust I has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Gran Tierra Energy.

Summary

Gran Tierra Energy beats ECA Marcellus Trust I on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gran Tierra Energy

Gran Tierra Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas properties in Colombia and Ecuador. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About ECA Marcellus Trust I

ECA Marcellus Trust I is a statutory trust. It owns royalty interest in producing wells and development wells. It also acquires horizontal natural gas development wells to be drilled to the Marcellus Shale formation. The company was founded in March 2010 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.