Analyzing Flotek Industries (NYSE:FTK) and RPC (NYSE:RES)

RPC (NYSE:RES) and Flotek Industries (NYSE:FTK) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for RPC and Flotek Industries, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RPC	1	4	0	0	1.80
Flotek Industries	0	1	2	1	3.00

RPC presently has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential downside of 7.83%. Flotek Industries has a consensus target price of $17.50, suggesting a potential downside of 0.77%. Given Flotek Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Flotek Industries is more favorable than RPC.

Profitability

This table compares RPC and Flotek Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RPC	3.12%	5.58%	4.26%
Flotek Industries	14.48%	22.62%	12.96%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares RPC and Flotek Industries”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
RPC	$1.42 billion	0.85	$91.44 million	$0.23	23.59
Flotek Industries	$187.02 million	2.83	$10.50 million	$0.89	19.81

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

41.1% of RPC shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.9% of Flotek Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 60.5% of RPC shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Flotek Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

RPC has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Flotek Industries has a beta of 1.46, indicating that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Flotek Industries beats RPC on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About RPC

RPC, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages provision of a range of oilfield services and equipment for the oil and gas companies involved in the exploration, production, and development of oil and gas properties. The company operates through Technical Services and Support Services segments. The Technical Services segment offers pressure pumping, fracturing, acidizing, cementing, downhole tools, coiled tubing, snubbing, nitrogen, well control, wireline, pump down, and fishing services that are used in the completion, production, and maintenance of oil and gas wells. The Support Services segment provides a range of rental tools for onshore and offshore oil and gas well drilling, completion, and workover activities. This segment also offers oilfield pipe inspection, and pipe management and storage services, as well as well control training and consulting services. It operates in the United States, Africa, Canada, Argentina, China, Mexico, Latin America, the Middle East, and internationally. The company was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Flotek Industries

Flotek Industries, Inc. operates as a technology-driven green chemistry and data company that serves customers across industrial and commercial markets in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Chemistry Technologies (CT) and Data Analytics (DA). The CT segment designs, develops, manufactures, packages, distributes, delivers, and markets green specialty chemicals that enhance the profitability of hydrocarbon producers, as well as green specialty chemistries, and logistics and technology services. This segment primarily serves integrated oil and gas, oilfield services, independent oil and gas, national and state-owned oil, geothermal energy, solar energy, and alternative energy companies. The DA segment designs, develops, produces, sells, and supports equipment and services that create and provide valuable information on the composition and properties of energy customers' hydrocarbon fluids. It sells its products directly through a mix of in-house sales professionals, as well as contractual agency agreements. Flotek Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.