Comparing Dawson Geophysical (NASDAQ:DWSN) & SLB (NYSE:SLB)

Dawson Geophysical (NASDAQ:DWSN) and SLB (NYSE:SLB) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Dividends

Dawson Geophysical pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 16.3%. SLB pays an annual dividend of $1.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Dawson Geophysical pays out -266.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SLB pays out 44.0% 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. SLB has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Dawson Geophysical is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Dawson Geophysical and SLB”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dawson Geophysical	$64.31 million	0.95	-$4.12 million	($0.12)	-16.38
SLB	$35.25 billion	1.55	$4.46 billion	$2.59	14.12

SLB has higher revenue and earnings than Dawson Geophysical. Dawson Geophysical is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SLB, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Dawson Geophysical and SLB’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dawson Geophysical	-13.89%	-44.29%	-22.22%
SLB	10.34%	18.97%	8.61%

Volatility and Risk

Dawson Geophysical has a beta of -0.02, meaning that its share price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SLB has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Dawson Geophysical and SLB, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dawson Geophysical	0	1	0	0	2.00
SLB	0	5	14	2	2.86

SLB has a consensus price target of $51.28, indicating a potential upside of 40.23%. Given SLB’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SLB is more favorable than Dawson Geophysical.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

7.9% of Dawson Geophysical shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.0% of SLB shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Dawson Geophysical shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of SLB shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

SLB beats Dawson Geophysical on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Dawson Geophysical

Dawson Geophysical Company provides onshore seismic data acquisition and processing services in the United States and Canada. The company acquires and processes 2-D, 3-D, and multi-component seismic data for its clients, including oil and gas companies, and independent oil and gas operators, as well as providers of multi-client data libraries and carbon capture sequestration projects. Its seismic crews supply seismic data primarily to companies engaged in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas on land and in land-to-water transition areas, as well as potash mining industry. The company was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas. Dawson Geophysical Company is a subsidiary of Wilks Brothers, LLC.

About SLB

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products. It also offers subsurface geology and fluids evaluation information; open and cased hole services; exploration and production pressure, and flow-rate measurement services; and pressure pumping, well stimulation, and coiled tubing equipment solutions. In addition, the company offers mud logging, directional drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services, as well as engineering support services; supplies drilling fluid systems; designs, manufactures, and markets roller cone and fixed cutter drill bits; bottom-hole-assembly and borehole enlargement technologies; well cementing products and services; well planning, well drilling, engineering, supervision, logistics, procurement, and contracting of third parties, as well as drilling rig management solutions; and drilling equipment and services, as well as land drilling rigs and related services. Further, it provides artificial lift production equipment and optimization services; supplies packers, safety valves, sand control technology, and various intelligent well completions technology and equipment; designs and manufactures valves, chokes, actuators, and surface trees; and OneSubsea, an integrated solutions, products, systems, and services, including wellheads, subsea trees, manifolds and flowline connectors, control systems, connectors, and services. The company was formerly known as Socie´te´ de Prospection E´lectrique. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1926 and is based in Houston, Texas.