Weatherford International (WFRD) Competitors

BWX Technologies (NYSE:BWXT) and Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) are both machinery companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Is BWXT or WFRD more profitable?

BWX Technologies has a net margin of 10.39% compared to Weatherford International's net margin of 8.79%. Weatherford International's return on equity of 35.88% beat BWX Technologies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BWX Technologies	10.39%	30.26%	10.95%
Weatherford International	8.79%	35.88%	9.17%

Do analysts recommend BWXT or WFRD?

BWX Technologies currently has a consensus price target of $135.09, suggesting a potential downside of 4.08%. Weatherford International has a consensus price target of $96.63, suggesting a potential upside of 83.58%. Given Weatherford International's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Weatherford International is more favorable than BWX Technologies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BWX Technologies	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78
Weatherford International	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Does the media refer more to BWXT or WFRD?

In the previous week, BWX Technologies had 10 more articles in the media than Weatherford International. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for BWX Technologies and 5 mentions for Weatherford International. Weatherford International's average media sentiment score of 1.47 beat BWX Technologies' score of 1.41 indicating that Weatherford International is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
BWX Technologies	12 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Weatherford International	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is BWXT or WFRD a better dividend stock?

BWX Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Weatherford International pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. BWX Technologies pays out 31.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Weatherford International pays out 16.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. BWX Technologies has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Weatherford International is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of BWXT or WFRD?

94.4% of BWX Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.2% of Weatherford International shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of BWX Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Weatherford International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, BWXT or WFRD?

Weatherford International has higher revenue and earnings than BWX Technologies. Weatherford International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BWX Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BWX Technologies	$2.70B	4.76	$281.94M	$3.14	44.85
Weatherford International	$5.51B	0.69	$506M	$6.25	8.42

Which has more risk & volatility, BWXT or WFRD?

BWX Technologies has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Weatherford International has a beta of 0.73, meaning that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Weatherford International beats BWX Technologies on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.