Head-To-Head Contrast: Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI) vs. Flotek Industries (NYSE:FTK)

Flotek Industries (NYSE:FTK) and Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI) are both small-cap materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

10.9% of Flotek Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.1% of Intrepid Potash shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.4% of Flotek Industries shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Intrepid Potash shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Flotek Industries has a beta of 1.47, meaning that its stock price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intrepid Potash has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Flotek Industries and Intrepid Potash, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flotek Industries	0	1	4	0	2.80
Intrepid Potash	1	1	0	2	2.75

Flotek Industries currently has a consensus target price of $34.67, suggesting a potential upside of 10.23%. Intrepid Potash has a consensus target price of $29.00, suggesting a potential downside of 22.64%. Given Flotek Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Flotek Industries is more favorable than Intrepid Potash.

Profitability

This table compares Flotek Industries and Intrepid Potash’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flotek Industries	12.97%	21.57%	10.89%
Intrepid Potash	8.94%	4.74%	3.73%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Flotek Industries and Intrepid Potash”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flotek Industries	$237.26 million	4.80	$30.53 million	$0.99	31.77
Intrepid Potash	$298.33 million	1.69	$11.19 million	$1.98	18.93

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

Summary

Flotek Industries beats Intrepid Potash on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Intrepid Potash

Intrepid Potash, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the extraction and production of the potash in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Potash, Trio, and Oilfield Solutions. The company offers muriate of potash for various markets, such as agricultural market as a fertilizer input; the industrial market as a component in drilling and fracturing fluids for oil and gas wells, as well as an input to other industrial processes; and the animal feed market as a nutrient supplement. It also provides Trio, a specialty fertilizer that delivers potassium, sulfate, and magnesium in a single particle; water for oil and gas services industry; salt for various markets, including animal feed, industrial applications, pool salt, and the treatment of roads and walkways for ice melting or to manage road conditions; magnesium chloride for use as a road treatment agent for deicing and dedusting; brines for use in oil and gas industry to support well workover and completion activities; and metal recovery salts. Intrepid Potash, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in Denver, Colorado.