Comparing GD Culture Group (NASDAQ:GDC) and Select Water Solutions (NYSE:WTTR)

GD Culture Group (NASDAQ:GDC) and Select Water Solutions (NYSE:WTTR) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares GD Culture Group and Select Water Solutions”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GD Culture Group	N/A	N/A	-$13.84 million	$0.10	41.60
Select Water Solutions	$1.45 billion	1.02	$30.64 million	$0.19	64.42

Select Water Solutions has higher revenue and earnings than GD Culture Group. GD Culture Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Select Water Solutions, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.6% of GD Culture Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.7% of Select Water Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of GD Culture Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Select Water Solutions shares are owned by 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for GD Culture Group and Select Water Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GD Culture Group	1	0	0	0	1.00
Select Water Solutions	0	2	2	1	2.80

Select Water Solutions has a consensus target price of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.38%. Given Select Water Solutions’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Select Water Solutions is more favorable than GD Culture Group.

Risk and Volatility

GD Culture Group has a beta of 1.83, suggesting that its stock price is 83% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Select Water Solutions has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares GD Culture Group and Select Water Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GD Culture Group	N/A	-4.20%	-4.15%
Select Water Solutions	1.41%	2.26%	1.38%

Summary

Select Water Solutions beats GD Culture Group on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About GD Culture Group

GD Culture Group Limited operates as an integrated marketing service agency. The company focuses on enterprise brand management, crisis public relations, intelligent public opinion monitoring, media PR, financial and economic we-media operation, digital face application, exhibition services, and other businesses. It also publishes books in corporate history, finance, and economics, as well as plans and organizes online and offline activities, such as new book launches and book sharing sessions to promote new books and build influence and reputation for the corporate clients. The company was formerly known as Code Chain New Continent Limited and changed its name to GD Culture Group Limited in January 2023. GD Culture Group Limited is based in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.

About Select Water Solutions

Select Water Solutions, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides water management and chemical solutions to the energy industry in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Water Services, Water Infrastructure, and Chemical Technologies. The Water Services segment provides water-related services, including water sourcing, water transfer, flowback and well testing, water containment, fluids hauling, water monitoring, and water network automation; technology solutions comprising hydrographic mapping, water volume and quality monitoring, remote pit and tank monitoring, leak detection, asset and fuel tracking, and automated-equipment services, as well as various surface rental equipment and workforce accommodation services. The Water Infrastructure segment engages in the recycling, gathering, transferring, and disposal of water through a network of permanent pipeline infrastructure, semi-permanent pipeline infrastructure, water recycling facilities, earthen pits, water sources, and SWDs; provides solids management services; and develops, builds, and operates semi-permanent and permanent infrastructure solutions. The Chemical Technologies segment provides technical solutions, products, and services related to chemical applications in the oil and gas industry. This segment develops, manufactures, and manages logistics; and provides chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, stimulation, cementing, and well completions for pressure pumpers and oil and gas producers, as well as offers production chemical solutions for underperforming wells, corrosion and scale monitoring, chemical inventory management, well failure analysis, and lab services. It primarily serves oil and gas producers. The company was formerly known as Select Energy Services, Inc. and changed its name to Select Water Solutions, Inc. in May 2023. Select Water Solutions, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.