Schlumberger (SLB) Competitors

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

Which has preferable earnings & 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	$22.56B	0.76	$2.50B	$2.39	8.29
Schlumberger	$36.29B	1.25	$4.46B	$2.95	11.28

Which has more risk and volatility, HAL or SLB?

Halliburton has a beta of 1.45, suggesting that its stock price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Schlumberger has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in HAL or SLB?

85.2% of Halliburton shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.0% of Schlumberger shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Halliburton shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Schlumberger shares are owned 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.

Do analysts prefer HAL or SLB?

Halliburton presently has a consensus target price of $34.68, suggesting a potential upside of 75.00%. Schlumberger has a consensus target price of $53.32, suggesting a potential upside of 60.23%. Given Halliburton's higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly 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

Does the media prefer HAL or SLB?

In the previous week, Schlumberger had 21 more articles in the media than Halliburton. MarketBeat recorded 69 mentions for Schlumberger and 48 mentions for Halliburton. Schlumberger's average media sentiment score of 0.48 beat Halliburton's score of 0.22 indicating that Schlumberger is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Halliburton	12 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	13 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Schlumberger	33 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	12 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is HAL or SLB a better dividend stock?

Halliburton pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. 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 is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is HAL or SLB more profitable?

Schlumberger has a net margin of 12.29% compared to Halliburton's net margin of 10.90%. Halliburton's return on equity of 26.03% beat Schlumberger's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Halliburton	10.90%	26.03%	10.50%
Schlumberger	12.29%	21.90%	9.98%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in HAL or SLB?

Halliburton received 211 more outperform votes than Schlumberger when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 80.41% of users gave Halliburton an outperform vote while only 76.81% of users gave Schlumberger an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Halliburton	Outperform Votes 1950 80.41%	Underperform Votes 475 19.59%
Schlumberger	Outperform Votes 1739 76.81%	Underperform Votes 525 23.19%

Summary

Schlumberger beats Halliburton on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.