Comparing NOV (NYSE:NOV) and Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL)

Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) and NOV (NYSE:NOV) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Seadrill has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NOV has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Seadrill and NOV, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seadrill	1	1	3	4	3.11
NOV	2	9	5	0	2.19

Seadrill currently has a consensus target price of $59.40, suggesting a potential upside of 26.73%. NOV has a consensus target price of $21.31, suggesting a potential upside of 4.12%. Given Seadrill’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Seadrill is more favorable than NOV.

Profitability

This table compares Seadrill and NOV’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seadrill	0.07%	0.64%	0.46%
NOV	1.10%	3.44%	1.94%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.7% of Seadrill shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.3% of NOV shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Seadrill shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of NOV shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Seadrill and NOV”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seadrill	$1.44 billion	2.04	-$77.00 million	$0.03	1,562.33
NOV	$8.74 billion	0.83	$145.00 million	$0.26	78.71

NOV has higher revenue and earnings than Seadrill. NOV is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Seadrill, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

NOV beats Seadrill on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seadrill

Seadrill Ltd. engages in the provision of offshore drilling services to the oil and gas industry. It operates through the following segments: Floaters, Jack-up rigs, and Other. The Floaters segment encompasses drilling, completion, and maintenance of offshore exploration and production wells. the Jack-up Rigs segment includes drilling contracts relate to jack-up rigs for operations in harsh and benign environments in shallow water. The Other segment represents management services to third parties and related parties. The company was founded on May 10, 2005 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

About NOV

NOV Inc. designs, constructs, manufactures, and sells systems, components, and products for oil and gas drilling and production, and industrial and renewable energy sectors in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Energy Equipment, and Energy Products and Services. The company provides solids control and waste management equipment and services, managed pressure drilling, drilling fluids, premium drillpipe, wired pipe, drilling optimization services, tubular inspection and coating services, instrumentation, downhole tools, and drill bits. It also offers equipment and technologies for hydraulic fracture stimulation, including downhole multistage fracturing tools, pressure pumping trucks, blenders, sanders, hydration and injection units, flowline, and manifolds; coiled tubing units, and wireline units and tools; connections and liner hangers; onshore production consists of composite pipe, surface transfer and progressive cavity pumps, and artificial lift systems; and offshore production, such as floating production systems and subsea production technologies, as well as manufactures industrial pumps and mixers. In addition, the company provides substructures, derricks, and masts; cranes; jacking systems; pipe lifting, racking, rotating, and assembly systems; mud pumps; pressure control equipment; drives and generators; rig instrumentation and control systems; mooring, anchor, and deck handling machinery; equipment components for offshore wind construction vessels; and pipelay and construction systems. Further, the company offers spare parts, repair, and rentals as well as comprehensive remote equipment monitoring, technical support, field service, and customer training. The company was formerly known as National Oilwell Varco, Inc. and changed its name to NOV Inc. in January 2021. NOV Inc. was founded in 1862 and is based in Houston, Texas.