Halliburton (HAL) Competitors

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) and Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) are both large-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Do analysts recommend HAL or SLB?

Halliburton presently has a consensus price target of $33.58, indicating a potential upside of 64.12%. Schlumberger has a consensus price target of $51.68, indicating a potential upside of 53.07%. Given Halliburton's higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Halliburton is more favorable than Schlumberger.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Halliburton	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Schlumberger	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.85

Is HAL or SLB a better dividend stock?

Halliburton pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Schlumberger pays an annual dividend of $1.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Halliburton pays out 28.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Schlumberger pays out 38.6% 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. Halliburton has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Schlumberger has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Schlumberger is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, HAL or SLB?

Schlumberger has higher revenue and earnings than Halliburton. Halliburton is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Schlumberger, 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
Halliburton	$22.94B	0.77	$2.50B	$2.39	8.56
Schlumberger	$36.29B	1.27	$4.46B	$2.95	11.44

Which has more risk and volatility, HAL or SLB?

Halliburton has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Schlumberger has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is HAL or SLB more profitable?

Schlumberger has a net margin of 11.62% compared to Halliburton's net margin of 9.31%. Halliburton's return on equity of 24.01% beat Schlumberger's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Halliburton	9.31%	24.01%	9.81%
Schlumberger	11.62%	21.76%	9.73%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of HAL or SLB?

85.2% of Halliburton shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.0% of Schlumberger shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Halliburton shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Schlumberger shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to HAL or SLB?

In the previous week, Schlumberger had 24 more articles in the media than Halliburton. MarketBeat recorded 47 mentions for Schlumberger and 23 mentions for Halliburton. Halliburton's average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat Schlumberger's score of 0.80 indicating that Halliburton is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Halliburton	16 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Schlumberger	27 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Schlumberger beats Halliburton on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.