Dawson Geophysical (NASDAQ:DWSN) versus Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Head-To-Head Review

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) and Dawson Geophysical (NASDAQ:DWSN) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Helmerich & Payne has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dawson Geophysical has a beta of -0.14, indicating that its share price is 114% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Helmerich & Payne and Dawson Geophysical”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Helmerich & Payne	$3.75 billion	1.12	-$163.70 million	($1.41)	-29.69
Dawson Geophysical	$75.62 million	1.35	-$1.94 million	$0.12	27.45

Dawson Geophysical has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Helmerich & Payne. Helmerich & Payne is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Dawson Geophysical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Helmerich & Payne and Dawson Geophysical, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Helmerich & Payne	2	4	5	0	2.27
Dawson Geophysical	0	1	0	0	2.00

Helmerich & Payne currently has a consensus target price of $43.10, indicating a potential upside of 2.95%. Given Helmerich & Payne’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Helmerich & Payne is more favorable than Dawson Geophysical.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.1% of Helmerich & Payne shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.9% of Dawson Geophysical shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.4% of Helmerich & Payne shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Dawson Geophysical shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Helmerich & Payne and Dawson Geophysical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Helmerich & Payne	-3.43%	-2.35%	-0.99%
Dawson Geophysical	3.49%	19.56%	6.73%

About Helmerich & Payne

Founded in 1920, Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (H&P) (NYSE: HP) is committed to delivering industry leading levels of drilling productivity and reliability. H&P operates with the highest level of integrity, safety and innovation to deliver superior results for its customers and returns for shareholders. Through its subsidiaries, the Company designs, fabricates and operates high-performance drilling rigs in conventional and unconventional plays around the world. H&P also develops and implements advanced automation, directional drilling and survey management technologies. H&P’s fleet includes 299 land rigs in the U.S., 31 international land rigs and eight offshore platform rigs.

About Dawson Geophysical

Dawson Geophysical Company provides onshore seismic data acquisition and processing services in the United States and Canada. The company acquires and processes 2-D, 3-D, and multi-component seismic data for its clients, including oil and gas companies, and independent oil and gas operators, as well as providers of multi-client data libraries and carbon capture sequestration projects. Its seismic crews supply seismic data primarily to companies engaged in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas on land and in land-to-water transition areas, as well as potash mining industry. The company was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas. Dawson Geophysical Company is a subsidiary of Wilks Brothers, LLC.