Head to Head Survey: Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) vs. Tidewater (NYSE:TDW)

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) and Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Tidewater and Liberty Energy”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tidewater	$1.35 billion	3.26	$334.66 million	$4.94	17.92
Liberty Energy	$4.01 billion	0.80	$147.87 million	$0.74	26.38

Tidewater has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Liberty Energy. Tidewater is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Liberty Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.1% of Tidewater shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.2% of Liberty Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 5.9% of Tidewater shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Liberty Energy shares are held 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Tidewater and Liberty Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tidewater	0	6	3	1	2.50
Liberty Energy	0	6	7	0	2.54

Tidewater currently has a consensus target price of $98.25, suggesting a potential upside of 10.99%. Liberty Energy has a consensus target price of $29.55, suggesting a potential upside of 51.33%. Given Liberty Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Liberty Energy is more favorable than Tidewater.

Risk and Volatility

Tidewater has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liberty Energy has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Tidewater and Liberty Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tidewater	18.34%	5.36%	3.05%
Liberty Energy	2.92%	1.14%	0.57%

Summary

Tidewater beats Liberty Energy on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tidewater

Tidewater Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore support vessels and marine support services to the offshore energy industry through the operation of a fleet of marine service vessels worldwide. It provides services in support of offshore oil and gas exploration, field development, and production, as well as windfarm development and maintenance, including towing of and anchor handling for mobile offshore drilling units; transporting supplies and personnel necessary to sustain drilling, workover, and production activities; offshore construction, and seismic and subsea support; geotechnical survey support for windfarm construction; and various specialized services, such as pipe and cable laying. The company operates anchor handling towing supply vessels, platform supply vessels, crew boats, utility vessels, and offshore tugs. The company serves integrated and independent oil and gas exploration, field development, and production companies; mid-sized and smaller independent exploration and production companies; foreign government-owned or government-controlled organizations, and other related companies; offshore drilling contractors; and other companies, such as offshore construction, windfarm development, diving, and well stimulation companies. Tidewater Inc. was incorporated in 1956 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Liberty Energy

Liberty Energy Inc. provides hydraulic services and related technologies to onshore oil and natural gas exploration, and production companies in North America. The company offers hydraulic fracturing services, including complementary services, such as wireline services, proppant delivery solutions, field gas processing and treating, compressed natural gas (CNG) delivery, data analytics, related goods comprising sand mine operations, and technologies; and well site fueling and logistics. As of as of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of approximately 40 active hydraulic fracturing; and two sand mines in the Permian Basin. In addition, the company provides services primarily in the Permian Basin, the Williston Basin, the Eagle Ford Shale, the Haynesville Shale, the Appalachian Basin (Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale), the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, the Denver-Julesburg Basin (the DJ Basin), and the Anadarko Basin. Liberty Energy Inc. was formerly known as Liberty Oilfield Services Inc. and changed its name to Liberty Energy Inc. in April 2022. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.