Critical Contrast: Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) and Expro Group (NYSE:XPRO)

Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) and Expro Group (NYSE:XPRO) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Precision Drilling and Expro Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Precision Drilling	2	1	4	1	2.50
Expro Group	2	2	2	1	2.29

Precision Drilling currently has a consensus price target of $122.33, indicating a potential upside of 40.78%. Expro Group has a consensus price target of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.10%. Given Precision Drilling’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Precision Drilling is more favorable than Expro Group.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Precision Drilling and Expro Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Precision Drilling	$1.32 billion	0.85	$1.32 million	($2.09)	-41.58
Expro Group	$1.61 billion	1.22	$51.69 million	$0.18	96.99

Expro Group has higher revenue and earnings than Precision Drilling. Precision Drilling is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Expro Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

48.9% of Precision Drilling shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.1% of Expro Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Precision Drilling shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Expro Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Precision Drilling has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Expro Group has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Precision Drilling and Expro Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Precision Drilling	-1.68%	2.11%	1.24%
Expro Group	1.33%	3.27%	2.19%

Summary

Expro Group beats Precision Drilling on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Precision Drilling

Precision Drilling Corporation, a drilling company, provides onshore drilling, completion, and production services to exploration and production companies in the oil and natural gas and geothermal industries in North America and the Middle East. The company operates through Contract Drilling Services and Completion and Production Services segments. The Contract Drilling Services segment offers onshore well drilling services to exploration and production companies in the geothermal, oil and natural gas industry. This segment offers services include land and turnkey drilling; and procurement and distribution of oilfield supplies, as well as manufacture and repair of drilling and service rig equipment. In addition, it operates land drilling rigs in Canada, the United States, and the Middle East, as well as operates AlphaAutomation, AlphaApps, and AlphaAnalytics data services. The company offers EverGreen suite of environmental solutions comprising EverGreenMonitoring, EverGreenEnergy, and EverGreen Fuel Cell. The Completion and Production Services segment provides service rigs for well completion, workover, abandonment, maintenance, and re-entry preparation services; equipment rentals; and camp and catering services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies. This segment operates well completion and workover service rigs in Canada and the United States. Precision Drilling Corporation was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About Expro Group

Expro Group Holdings N.V. engages in the provision of energy services in North and Latin America, Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company provides well construction services, such as technology solutions in drilling, tubular running services, and cementing and tubulars; and well management services, including well flow management, subsea well access, and well intervention and integrity solutions. It serves exploration and production companies in onshore and offshore environments in approximately 60 countries. Expro Group Holdings N.V. was founded in 1938 and is based in Houston, Texas.