U.S. Well Services (NASDAQ:USWS) and Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.
Profitability
This table compares U.S. Well Services and Oceaneering International's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
U.S. Well Services | -83.03% | -154.88% | -21.32% |
Oceaneering International | -37.40% | -3.56% | -1.14% |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
46.9% of U.S. Well Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.4% of Oceaneering International shares are held by institutional investors. 10.5% of U.S. Well Services shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Oceaneering International shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility and Risk
U.S. Well Services has a beta of 2.24, meaning that its share price is 124% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oceaneering International has a beta of 3.6, meaning that its share price is 260% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for U.S. Well Services and Oceaneering International, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
U.S. Well Services | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Oceaneering International | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2.10 |
U.S. Well Services currently has a consensus price target of $1.00, indicating a potential downside of 43.50%. Oceaneering International has a consensus price target of $6.8286, indicating a potential downside of 42.13%. Given Oceaneering International's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Oceaneering International is more favorable than U.S. Well Services.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares U.S. Well Services and Oceaneering International's top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
U.S. Well Services | $514.76 million | 0.25 | $-93,910,000.00 | ($1.72) | -1.03 |
Oceaneering International | $2.05 billion | 0.57 | $-348,440,000.00 | ($0.82) | -14.39 |
U.S. Well Services has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Oceaneering International. Oceaneering International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than U.S. Well Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Oceaneering International beats U.S. Well Services on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.