Based on key financial metrics such as the price-to-sales ratio, shareholder yield and the price-earnings ratio, the following 7 stocks made the list for top value stocks in the Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production industry. Those looking for value stocks to add to their portfolio may want to use this list as a starting point for further investment research.

Latest Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production Stock News

Before choosing which top Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production stock to buy, be sure to conduct proper due diligence: analyze various financial metrics and look at historical data, public statements and news coverage.

The outlook for the oil and gas exploration and production sub-industry is mostly favorable for the foreseeable future. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a major oil shock occurred in 2020. Since then, crude oil prices have begun to recover, currently priced at around $60 per barrel as a result of persistent supply cuts by the OPEC-Plus Consortium. While the demand perspective remains uncertain, from a supply perspective, both OPEC and non-OPEC participants have a conservative production outlook in 2021. The most significant unknown factor is the potential lifting of Iran sanctions by the Biden administration and its impact. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), oil demand is expected to increase by about 5.4 mmb/d, to 96.4 mmb/d in 2021. While this appears to be a strong year-over-year increase, it is well in line with the 2019 demand of around 100 mmb/d, signifying only a 60% recovery from the pandemic. In May 2021, the EIA forecasted WTI crude oil prices as $59 dollars per barrel in 2021 and $57 per barrel in 2022. At these price points, exploration and production operations are expected to generate significant free cashflow.

Why Focus on Undervalued Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production Stocks?

Value investors seek to buy stocks at a discount to their intrinsic value. Long-term returns show that such strategies are advantageous. Value stocks, as a group, tend to outperform growth stocks over extended periods of time. Typically, value investors perform financial analysis of numerous metrics, don’t follow the herd and are long-term investors.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade is derived from a stock’s Value Score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

What Goes Into AAII’s Value Grade?

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data as well as the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movement. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors with that task.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A–F grades for more than just value. It is possible for a stock to appear cheap based on one valuation metric but appear expensive on another. It is also possible for one valuation ratio to be associated with outperforming stocks during certain periods of time but not others. Some stocks may even have null values for certain metrics like the price-earnings ratio or the price-to-book ratio but not others. An example of this would be a company with losses instead of profits or a negative book value because of heavy borrowing. Negative earnings or book value result in non-meaningful ratios that are left blank or null.

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7 Undervalued Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production Stocks

Of course, there are countless value stocks that are worth mentioning, but this is a concise list of the top 7 undervalued stocks in the Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production industry for Tuesday, October 17, 2023. Let’s take a closer look at their individual scores to see how they measure up against each other and the Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production industry median.

The Value Grade is assigned based on how each stock’s composite valuation compares to all other stocks.

The process for assigning grades starts with each variable for a given stock. The percentile rankings for all valid ratios that a stock has are calculated. So, for instance, a stock could have a price-to-book ranking in the 43rd percentile, a price-earnings ranking in the 67th percentile, a price-to-sales ranking in the 23rd percentile, etc. Then, those rankings are averaged for each stock. (A minimum of two valid variables are required, though all six will be used if available.)

Once the average of the individual variables is calculated, that average is ranked against all stocks. Put another way, each stock’s composite valuation is compared to all other stocks. These ranks are then sorted into quintiles from the cheapest 20% (a grade of A) to the most expensive 20% (a grade of F).

As always, we recommend that you conduct proper due diligence and research before investing in any security. We also suggest that investors utilize numerous grades, not just value, when it comes to deciding whether a company is a good fit for their allocation needs.

Petrolia Energy Corp’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Petrolia Energy Corporation is engaged in oil and gas exploration, development, and production. The Company's Slick Unit Dutcher Sand (SUDS) field is located in Creek County, Oklahoma. It is approximately 1,670 acres and the SUDS East unit is approximately 860 acres. Its Twin Lakes San Andres Unit (TLSAU) field is located in Chaves County, New Mexico. The Company has a 25% working interest in approximately 41,526 acres in the Luseland, Hearts Hill, and Cuthbert fields, located in Southwest Saskatchewan and Eastern Alberta, Canada. The Company has a 50% working interest in approximately 28,000 acres located in the Utikuma Lake area in Alberta, Canada. The property is an oil-weighted asset producing a total of approximately 500 Barrels Per Day (bpd) of light oil. The Company's subsidiary, Askarii Resources LLC, is a private Texas-based oil and gas service company.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Petrolia Energy Corp has a Value Score of 95, which is considered to be undervalued.

When you look at Petrolia Energy Corp’s price-to-sales ratio at 0.09 compared to the industry median at 1.90, this company has a lower price relative to revenue compared to its peers. This could make Petrolia Energy Corp’s stock more attractive for value investors.

Shareholder yield is the sum of a stock’s dividend yield (paid over previous 12 months minus special dividends) and the percentage of net share buybacks over the previous 12 months. Petrolia Energy Corp’s shareholder yield is lower than its industry median ratio of 1.24%. Value investors may look for an attractive shareholder yield because it can be a powerful tool for identifying if the company has a good management team.

Lastly, let’s take a look at Petrolia Energy Corp’s price-to-free-cash-flow ratio (P/FCF), which can indicate a company’s market value relative to its operating cash flow. Petrolia Energy Corp’s price-to-free-cash-flow ratio is lower than its industry median ratio of 6.17. This could make Petrolia Energy Corp more attractive because the lower P/FCF ratio indicates that Petrolia Energy Corp is undervalued. The P/FCF ratio metric can also be viewed over a long-term time frame to see if the company's cash flow to share price value is generally improving or worsening.

Civitas Resources Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Civitas Resources, Inc. is an independent exploration and production company. The Company is focused on the acquisition, development, and production of oil and associated liquids-rich natural gas in the Rocky Mountain region, primarily in the Denver-Julesburg Basin of Colorado (the DJ Basin). The Company has interests in a total of 3,702 gross producing wells, of which 3,116 were horizontal. The Company also has total acreage position consisting of approximately 826,500 gross (525,900 net) acres. The Company?s midstream assets provide reliable gathering, treating, and storage for the Company?s operated production.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Civitas Resources Inc has a Value Score of 93, which is considered to be undervalued.

Civitas Resources Inc’s price-earnings ratio is 6.2 compared to the industry median at 6.0. This means that it has a higher price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Civitas Resources Inc less attractive for value investors.

Civitas Resources Inc’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Civitas Resources Inc less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.45.

You can read more about Civitas Resources Inc’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Diamondback Energy Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Diamondback Energy, Inc. is an independent oil and gas company, which is focused on the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. The Company operates through upstream segment, which is engaged in the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves primarily in the Permian Basin in West Texas. The midstream operations are focused on owning, operating, developing and acquiring midstream infrastructure assets in the Midland and Delaware Basins of the Permian Basin. Its total acreage position in the Permian Basin is approximately 508,767 net acres, which consisted primarily of approximately 325,540 acres in the Midland Basin and approximately 150,719 acres in the Delaware Basin. The Company?s subsidiaries include Diamondback E&P; LLC, Viper Energy Partners GP LLC, Rattler Midstream GP LLC, and QEP Resources, Inc.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Diamondback Energy Inc has a Value Score of 66, which is considered to be undervalued.

Diamondback Energy Inc’s price-earnings ratio is 8.7 compared to the industry median at 6.0. This means that it has a higher price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Diamondback Energy Inc less attractive for value investors.

Diamondback Energy Inc’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its peers. This could make Diamondback Energy Inc more attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.45.

You can read more about Diamondback Energy Inc’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Murphy Oil Corp’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. The Company is engaged in both onshore and offshore operations and properties. The Company’s geographic segments include the United States, Canada, and all other countries. It produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids primarily in the United States and Canada and explores for crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids in targeted areas worldwide. In the United States, it produces crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas primarily from fields in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Eagle Ford Shale area of South Texas. It holds approximately 133 thousand gross acres in South Texas in the Eagle Ford Shale unconventional oil and natural gas play. In Canada, it holds working interests in Tupper Montney (100% owned), Kaybob Duvernay, and two non-operated offshore assets, such as the Hibernia and Terra Nova fields, located offshore Newfoundland in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Murphy Oil Corp has a Value Score of 78, which is considered to be undervalued.

Murphy Oil Corp’s price-earnings ratio is 7.3 compared to the industry median at 6.0. This means that it has a higher price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Murphy Oil Corp less attractive for value investors.

Murphy Oil Corp’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Murphy Oil Corp less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.45.

You can read more about Murphy Oil Corp’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

North European Oil Royalty Trust’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

North European Oil Royalty Trust (the Trust) is a grantor trust which, on behalf of the owners of units of beneficial interest in the Trust (the unit owners), holds overriding royalty rights covering gas and oil production in certain concessions or leases in the Federal Republic of Germany. The rights are held under contracts with local German exploration and development subsidiaries of ExxonMobil Corp. (ExxonMobil) and the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies (Royal Dutch/Shell Group). Under these contracts, the Trust receives various percentage royalties on the proceeds of the sales of certain products from the areas involved. Its royalties are received for sales of gas well gas, oil well gas, crude oil, condensate and sulfur. The Trust conducts no active business operations and is restricted to collection of income from royalty rights and distribution to unit owners of the net income after payment of administrative and related expenses.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

North European Oil Royalty Trust has a Value Score of 64, which is considered to be undervalued.

North European Oil Royalty Trust’s price-earnings ratio is 3.7 compared to the industry median at 6.0. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes North European Oil Royalty Trust more attractive for value investors.

North European Oil Royalty Trust’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its peers. This could make North European Oil Royalty Trust more attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.45.

You can read more about North European Oil Royalty Trust’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Paramount Resources Ltd’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Paramount Resources Ltd. is a Canada-based energy company. The Company explores and develops both conventional and unconventional petroleum and natural gas. It also pursues longer-term strategic exploration and pre-development plays and holds a portfolio of investments in other entities. Its principal properties are located in Alberta and British Columbia. The Company's operations are organized into three regions: the Grande Prairie Region, located in the Peace River Arch area of Alberta, which is focused on Montney developments at Karr and Wapiti; the Kaybob Region, located in west-central Alberta, which includes the Kaybob North Duvernay development, the Kaybob North Montney oil development and other shale gas and conventional natural gas producing properties, and the Central Alberta and Other Region, which includes the Willesden Green Duvernay development in central Alberta and shale gas producing properties in the Horn River Basin in northeast British Columbia.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Paramount Resources Ltd has a Value Score of 80, which is considered to be undervalued.

Paramount Resources Ltd’s price-earnings ratio is 5.9 compared to the industry median at 6.0. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Paramount Resources Ltd more attractive for value investors.

Paramount Resources Ltd’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Paramount Resources Ltd less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.45.

You can read more about Paramount Resources Ltd’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Unit Corp’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Unit Corporation is a natural gas contract drilling company. The Company is primarily engaged in the development, acquisition, and production of oil and natural gas properties, the land contract drilling of natural gas and oil wells, and the buying, selling, gathering, processing, and treating of natural gas. The Company operates through three segments: Oil and Natural Gas, Contract Drilling, and Mid-Stream. The Oil and Natural Gas segment explores, develops, acquires, and produces oil and natural gas properties for its own account. The Contract Drilling segment contracts to drill onshore oil and natural gas wells for others and for its own account. The Mid-Stream segment buys, sells, gathers, processes, and treats natural gas for third parties and for its own account. The Company?s producing oil and natural gas properties, unproved properties, and related assets are primarily located in Oklahoma and Texas, in addition to Arkansas, Kansas, and North Dakota to a lesser extent.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Unit Corp has a Value Score of 97, which is considered to be undervalued.

Unit Corp’s price-earnings ratio is 1.9 compared to the industry median at 6.0. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Unit Corp more attractive for value investors.

Unit Corp’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Unit Corp less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.45.

You can read more about Unit Corp’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Other Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production Stock Grades

Value is just one of the five Stock Grades included in our A+ Investor service. AAII members can see the top-graded stocks—those with grades of A or B for value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality—on the A+ Stock Grades Screener.

Also, if you want full access to all of AAII’s premium services, you can subscribe to one convenient bundled plan called AAII Platinum where you can try out A+ Investor, AAII Dividend Investing, the Stock Superstars Report, Growth Investing and VMQ Stocks. With the other premium services, you can dive deep into additional metrics, portfolios, commentary and information about Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production stocks as well as other industrys.

Choosing Which of the 7 Best Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production Stocks Is Right for You

Choosing which value stocks to invest in will ultimately depend on your individual goals and allocation; however, comparing similar value stocks in the same industry can help you analyze which might be better investments for you in the long run. So, let’s take a look at the Value Grade for all of our stocks.

• Petrolia Energy Corp stock has a Value Grade of A.
• Civitas Resources Inc stock has a Value Grade of A.
• Diamondback Energy Inc stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Murphy Oil Corp stock has a Value Grade of B.
• North European Oil Royalty Trust stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Paramount Resources Ltd stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Unit Corp stock has a Value Grade of A.

Now that you have a bit more background about each of the 7 undervalued stocks in the Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production industry as well as their overall grades, it’s time for you to conduct additional research to see if these could fit your portfolio needs based on your goals and risk tolerance. AAII can help you figure out both and identify which investments align with what works best for you.

We do so through a program of education that teaches you to invest for yourself and become an effective manager of your own wealth—no more relying on others for your financial independence. You can rely on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis that makes you a better investor.

A+ Investor adds to that qualitative teaching by giving you a powerful data suite that helps you whittle down investment decisions to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Additional Resources About Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production Stocks

Want to learn more about Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production stocks to see if they could be the right investment for you? Check out some additional resources and articles to help you on your financial journey.

• 7 Undervalued Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production Stocks for Tuesday, October 17
• 5 Undervalued Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production Stocks for Monday, October 16
• 6 Undervalued Oil & Gas - Exploration and Production Stocks for Friday, October 13
• Is Vista Energy SAB de CV - ADR (VIST) Stock a Good Investment?

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