Solaris Energy Infrastructure (NYSE:SEI) versus Geospace Technologies (NASDAQ:GEOS) Critical Analysis

Geospace Technologies (NASDAQ:GEOS) and Solaris Energy Infrastructure (NYSE:SEI) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

57.2% of Geospace Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.4% of Solaris Energy Infrastructure shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Geospace Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.2% of Solaris Energy Infrastructure shares are owned by 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 Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Geospace Technologies and Solaris Energy Infrastructure, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Geospace Technologies	1	0	0	0	1.00
Solaris Energy Infrastructure	0	1	10	1	3.00

Solaris Energy Infrastructure has a consensus target price of $94.08, indicating a potential upside of 40.86%. Given Solaris Energy Infrastructure’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Solaris Energy Infrastructure is more favorable than Geospace Technologies.

Profitability

This table compares Geospace Technologies and Solaris Energy Infrastructure’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Geospace Technologies	N/A	N/A	N/A
Solaris Energy Infrastructure	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility & Risk

Geospace Technologies has a beta of 0.13, indicating that its share price is 87% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Solaris Energy Infrastructure has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Geospace Technologies and Solaris Energy Infrastructure”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Geospace Technologies	$91.85 million	0.64	-$39.84 million	($3.08)	-1.48
Solaris Energy Infrastructure	$762.18 million	6.71	$65.08 million	$0.85	78.58

Solaris Energy Infrastructure has higher revenue and earnings than Geospace Technologies. Geospace Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Solaris Energy Infrastructure, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Solaris Energy Infrastructure beats Geospace Technologies on 12 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Geospace Technologies

Geospace Technologies Corporation designs and manufactures instruments and equipment used in the oil and gas industry to acquire seismic data in order to locate, characterize, and monitor hydrocarbon producing reservoirs. The company operates through three segments: Oil and Gas Markets, Adjacent Markets, and Emerging Markets. The Oil and Gas Markets segment offers wireless seismic data acquisition systems and reservoir characterization products and services, as well as traditional seismic exploration products, such as geophones, hydrophones, leader wires, connectors, cables, marine streamer retrieval and steering devices, and other seismic products. The Adjacent Markets segment provides industrial products, including imaging equipment, water meter products, remote shut-off valves, and Internet of Things platform, as well as seismic sensors for vibration monitoring and geotechnical applications, such as mine safety and earthquake detection applications; and electronic pre-press products that employ direct thermal imaging, direct-to-screen printing systems, and digital inkjet printing technologies targeted at the commercial and industrial graphics, textile, and flexographic printing industries. The Emerging Markets segment designs and sells products used for border and perimeter security surveillance, cross-border tunneling detection, and other products targeted at movement monitoring, intrusion detection, and situational awareness. This segment serves various agencies of the United States government, including the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies. The company operates in Asia, Canada, Europe, South America, the United States, and internationally. Geospace Technologies Corporation was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Solaris Energy Infrastructure

Solaris Energy Infrastructure, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture of patented mobile proppant management systems that unload, store, and deliver proppant to oil and natural gas well sites. Its products include Mobile Proppant and Mobile Chemical Management Systems, and Inventory Management Software. The firm’s services include field, last mile management, and transloading services. The company was founded by William A. Zartler in 2014 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.