Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, oil and gas small-cap VAALCO Energy
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at VAALCO's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
VAALCO facts
| Headquarters (Founded) | Houston (1984) |
| Market Cap | $393.4 million |
| Industry | Oil and gas exploration and production |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $134.47 million |
| Management |
Chairman/CEO Robert Gerry, III (since 1997) CFO Gregory Hullinger (since 2008) |
| Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) | 14.5% |
| Cash/Debt | $81.2 million / $0 |
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 97% of the 1,528 members who have rated VAALCO believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include wombataholic and All-Star MagicDiligence, who is ranked in the top 10% of our community.
Late last year, wombataholic succinctly summed up the VAALCO bull case: "No debt and decently valued."
VAALCO even boasts a rather robust three-year average operating margin of 48%. That's higher than that of oil giants like ExxonMobil
CAPS All-Star MagicDiligence elaborates on the opportunity:
VAALCO is a small, independent oil driller, operating 4 fields offshore of Gabon, Africa. Several new Gabon wells were drilled in 2010 that should allow the company to start increasing production after several years of stagnation. The recent acquisition of 640 acres on the Granite Wash formation in Texas are expected to be drilled this year. Higher production and higher crude prices are a good combination for higher stock prices, and VAALCO's strong balance sheet provides protection in the event of a downturn in oil.
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