Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) and Nuverra Environmental Solutions (NYSEAMERICAN:NES) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Natural Gas Services Group and Nuverra Environmental Solutions' top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Natural Gas Services Group | $78.44 million | 1.58 | $-13,860,000.00 | N/A | N/A |
Nuverra Environmental Solutions | $168.24 million | 0.19 | $-54,940,000.00 | N/A | N/A |
Natural Gas Services Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Nuverra Environmental Solutions.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Natural Gas Services Group and Nuverra Environmental Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Natural Gas Services Group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Nuverra Environmental Solutions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Natural Gas Services Group presently has a consensus target price of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 31.58%. Given Natural Gas Services Group's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Natural Gas Services Group is more favorable than Nuverra Environmental Solutions.
Profitability
This table compares Natural Gas Services Group and Nuverra Environmental Solutions' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Natural Gas Services Group | 2.79% | -1.04% | -0.87% |
Nuverra Environmental Solutions | -60.31% | -17.96% | -12.85% |
Volatility and Risk
Natural Gas Services Group has a beta of 2.21, indicating that its share price is 121% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nuverra Environmental Solutions has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
83.0% of Natural Gas Services Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.4% of Nuverra Environmental Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. 7.1% of Natural Gas Services Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Nuverra Environmental Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Natural Gas Services Group beats Nuverra Environmental Solutions on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.