Head-To-Head Review: HKN (OTCMKTS:HKNI) and Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG)

HKN (OTCMKTS:HKNI) and Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.8% of Northern Oil and Gas shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of HKN shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Northern Oil and Gas shares are held by insiders. 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for HKN and Northern Oil and Gas, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HKN	0	0	0	0	0.00
Northern Oil and Gas	1	5	3	1	2.40

Northern Oil and Gas has a consensus target price of $29.29, suggesting a potential upside of 14.09%. Given Northern Oil and Gas’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Northern Oil and Gas is more favorable than HKN.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares HKN and Northern Oil and Gas”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HKN	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Northern Oil and Gas	$2.23 billion	1.13	$520.31 million	$1.77	14.50

Northern Oil and Gas has higher revenue and earnings than HKN.

Profitability

This table compares HKN and Northern Oil and Gas’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HKN	N/A	N/A	N/A
Northern Oil and Gas	7.61%	20.61%	8.60%

Summary

Northern Oil and Gas beats HKN on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About HKN

HKN, Inc. operates as an independent energy company. The company owns an oilfield emulsion breaking technology that purifies oilfield emulsions by breaking and separating the emulsions into oil, water, and solids. It also holds non-operated oil and gas leases and mineral interests in properties located in the Bakken and Niobrara shale oil plays; and rights to acreage in the Permian Basin of Texas. The company was founded in 1973 and is based in Southlake, Texas.

About Northern Oil and Gas

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc., an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It primarily holds interests in the Williston Basin, the Appalachian Basin, and the Permian Basin in the United States. The company is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota.