Select Water Solutions (NYSE:WTTR) and Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Head-To-Head Review

Select Water Solutions (NYSE:WTTR) and Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

81.7% of Select Water Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.2% of Liberty Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.2% of Select Water Solutions shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Liberty Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Select Water Solutions	2.24%	3.11%	1.92%
Liberty Energy	0.91%	2.13%	0.99%

Dividends

Select Water Solutions pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Liberty Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Select Water Solutions pays out 100.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Liberty Energy pays out 150.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Select Water Solutions has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Liberty Energy has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Select Water Solutions and Liberty Energy”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Select Water Solutions	$1.41 billion	1.80	$21.22 million	$0.28	65.47
Liberty Energy	$4.01 billion	0.60	$147.87 million	$0.24	61.44

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

Volatility and Risk

Select Water Solutions has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liberty Energy has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Select Water Solutions and Liberty Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Select Water Solutions	0	3	7	0	2.70
Liberty Energy	0	6	8	0	2.57

Select Water Solutions currently has a consensus price target of $24.57, suggesting a potential upside of 34.03%. Liberty Energy has a consensus price target of $26.42, suggesting a potential upside of 79.16%. Given Liberty Energy’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Liberty Energy is more favorable than Select Water Solutions.

Summary

Select Water Solutions beats Liberty Energy on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Select Water Solutions

Select Water Solutions, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides water management and chemical solutions to the energy industry in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Water Services, Water Infrastructure, and Chemical Technologies. The Water Services segment provides water-related services, including water sourcing, water transfer, flowback and well testing, water containment, fluids hauling, water monitoring, and water network automation; technology solutions comprising hydrographic mapping, water volume and quality monitoring, remote pit and tank monitoring, leak detection, asset and fuel tracking, and automated-equipment services, as well as various surface rental equipment and workforce accommodation services. The Water Infrastructure segment engages in the recycling, gathering, transferring, and disposal of water through a network of permanent pipeline infrastructure, semi-permanent pipeline infrastructure, water recycling facilities, earthen pits, water sources, and SWDs; provides solids management services; and develops, builds, and operates semi-permanent and permanent infrastructure solutions. The Chemical Technologies segment provides technical solutions, products, and services related to chemical applications in the oil and gas industry. This segment develops, manufactures, and manages logistics; and provides chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, stimulation, cementing, and well completions for pressure pumpers and oil and gas producers, as well as offers production chemical solutions for underperforming wells, corrosion and scale monitoring, chemical inventory management, well failure analysis, and lab services. It primarily serves oil and gas producers. The company was formerly known as Select Energy Services, Inc. and changed its name to Select Water Solutions, Inc. in May 2023. Select Water Solutions, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 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.