Reviewing Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) & Petrofac (OTCMKTS:POFCY)

Weatherford International (NASDAQ:WFRD) and Petrofac (OTCMKTS:POFCY) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Weatherford International and Petrofac, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Weatherford International	0	4	7	0	2.64
Petrofac	0	0	0	0	0.00

Weatherford International presently has a consensus target price of $110.33, suggesting a potential downside of 0.31%. Given Petrofac’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Petrofac is more favorable than Weatherford International.

Volatility and Risk

Weatherford International has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Petrofac has a beta of 2.2, suggesting that its stock price is 120% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Weatherford International	9.49%	28.31%	8.95%
Petrofac	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.2% of Weatherford International shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Weatherford International shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Weatherford International	$4.88 billion	1.63	$431.00 million	$6.39	17.32
Petrofac	$2.50 billion	0.00	-$505.00 million	N/A	N/A

Weatherford International has higher revenue and earnings than Petrofac.

Summary

Weatherford International beats Petrofac on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Petrofac

Petrofac Limited designs, builds, manages, and maintains infrastructure for the energy industries in the United Kingdom, Algeria, Thailand, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Engineering & Construction (E&C); Asset Solutions; and Integrated Energy Services (IES). The E&C segment provides onshore and offshore engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning services. The Asset Solutions segment offers concept, feasibility, and front-end engineering design services, as well as manages and maintains onshore and offshore operations. The IES segment focuses on delivering value from the existing asset portfolio. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in St Helier, Jersey.