Comparing Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) and Solaris Energy Infrastructure (NASDAQ:SEI)

Solaris Energy Infrastructure (NASDAQ:SEI) and Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Solaris Energy Infrastructure has a beta of 1.45, suggesting that its stock price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Weatherford International has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Solaris Energy Infrastructure and Weatherford International”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Solaris Energy Infrastructure	$292.95 million	5.80	$24.34 million	$0.44	63.71
Weatherford International	$5.14 billion	1.08	$417.00 million	$7.12	10.69

Weatherford International has higher revenue and earnings than Solaris Energy Infrastructure. Weatherford International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Solaris Energy Infrastructure, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Solaris Energy Infrastructure pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Weatherford International pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Solaris Energy Infrastructure pays out 109.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Weatherford International pays out 14.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Solaris Energy Infrastructure and Weatherford International, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Solaris Energy Infrastructure	0	0	2	0	3.00
Weatherford International	0	1	6	1	3.00

Solaris Energy Infrastructure currently has a consensus price target of $30.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.03%. Weatherford International has a consensus price target of $140.50, suggesting a potential upside of 84.65%. Given Weatherford International’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Weatherford International is more favorable than Solaris Energy Infrastructure.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

67.4% of Solaris Energy Infrastructure shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.2% of Weatherford International shares are held by institutional investors. 34.7% of Solaris Energy Infrastructure shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Weatherford International shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Solaris Energy Infrastructure and Weatherford International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Solaris Energy Infrastructure	4.80%	6.66%	4.12%
Weatherford International	9.65%	46.25%	10.44%

Summary

Weatherford International beats Solaris Energy Infrastructure on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Solaris Energy Infrastructure

Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure, Inc. designs and manufactures specialized equipment for oil and natural gas operators in the United States. The company provides mobile proppant and fluid management systems, as well as last mile logistics management services. It offers systems, mobilization, and last mile logistics services that are used to unload, store, and deliver proppant, water and/or chemicals at oil and natural gas well sites. The company is also involved in the transloading and storage of proppant or railcars at its transloading facility. In addition, it develops Railtronix, an inventory management software; and all-electric equipment that automates the low pressure section of oil and gas well completion sites. The company serves exploration and production, and oilfield services industries. Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure, Inc. was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Weatherford International

Weatherford International plc, an energy services company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil, geothermal, and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Drilling and Evaluation; Well Construction and Completions; and Production and Intervention. It offers artificial lift systems, including reciprocating rod, progressing cavity pumping, gas, hydraulic, plunger, and hybrid lift systems, as well as related automation and control systems; pressure pumping and reservoir stimulation services, such as acidizing, fracturing, cementing, and coiled-tubing intervention; and software, automation and flow measurement solutions. The company also provides safety, downhole reservoir monitoring, flow control, and multistage fracturing systems, as well as sand-control technologies, and production and isolation packers; liner hangers to suspend a casing string in high-temperature and high-pressure wells; cementing products, including plugs, float and stage equipment, and torque-and-drag reduction technology for zonal isolation; and pre-job planning and installation services. In addition, it offers directional drilling services, and logging and measurement services while drilling; services related to rotary-steerable systems, high temperature and high pressure sensors, drilling reamers, and circulation subs; rotating control devices and advanced automated control systems, as well as closed loop drilling, air drilling, managed-pressure drilling, and underbalanced drilling services; open-hole and cased-hole logging services; and intervention and remediation services. Further, it provides tubular handling, management, and connection services; and re-entry, fishing, and well abandonment services, as well as patented bottom hole, tubular-handling equipment, pressure-control equipment, and drill pipe and collars. The company was incorporated in 1972 and is based in Houston, Texas.