Natural Gas Services Group (NGS) Competitors

RPC (NYSE:RES) and Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and media sentiment.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of RES or NGS?

41.1% of RPC shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.6% of Natural Gas Services Group shares are held by institutional investors. 60.5% of RPC shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.3% of Natural Gas Services Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, RES or NGS?

RPC has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Natural Gas Services Group has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to RES or NGS?

In the previous week, Natural Gas Services Group had 8 more articles in the media than RPC. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Natural Gas Services Group and 2 mentions for RPC. RPC's average media sentiment score of 1.76 beat Natural Gas Services Group's score of 0.44 indicating that RPC is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
RPC	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Natural Gas Services Group	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is RES or NGS a better dividend stock?

RPC pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Natural Gas Services Group pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. RPC pays out 61.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Natural Gas Services Group pays out 28.2% 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.

Is RES or NGS more profitable?

Natural Gas Services Group has a net margin of 10.92% compared to RPC's net margin of 3.77%. Natural Gas Services Group's return on equity of 7.21% beat RPC's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RPC	3.77%	5.65%	4.42%
Natural Gas Services Group	10.92%	7.21%	3.69%

Do analysts prefer RES or NGS?

RPC currently has a consensus price target of $4.69, indicating a potential downside of 0.16%. Natural Gas Services Group has a consensus price target of $32.50, indicating a potential upside of 15.29%. Given Natural Gas Services Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Natural Gas Services Group is more favorable than RPC.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RPC	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.75
Natural Gas Services Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.50

Which has better valuation & earnings, RES or NGS?

RPC has higher revenue and earnings than Natural Gas Services Group. RPC is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Natural Gas Services Group, 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
RPC	$1.42B	0.73	$91.44M	$0.26	18.06
Natural Gas Services Group	$156.74M	2.26	$17.23M	$1.42	19.85

Summary

Natural Gas Services Group beats RPC on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.