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 investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation and media sentiment.

Which has more risk & volatility, RES or NGS?

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

Is RES or NGS a better dividend stock?

RPC pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Natural Gas Services Group pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. 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.

Do analysts recommend RES or NGS?

RPC presently has a consensus target price of $4.69, suggesting a potential upside of 3.59%. Natural Gas Services Group has a consensus target price of $32.50, suggesting a potential upside of 19.05%. Given Natural Gas Services Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable 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

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%

Does the media favor RES or NGS?

In the previous week, Natural Gas Services Group had 6 more articles in the media than RPC. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Natural Gas Services Group and 2 mentions for RPC. RPC's average media sentiment score of 1.77 beat Natural Gas Services Group's score of 0.31 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	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do insiders & institutionals believe in 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 insiders. Comparatively, 7.3% of Natural Gas Services Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better earnings and valuation, 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	$1.43B	0.70	$91.44M	$0.26	17.40
Natural Gas Services Group	$156.74M	2.18	$17.23M	$1.42	19.23

Summary

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