Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) versus Archrock (NYSE:AROC) Head to Head Analysis

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) and Archrock (NYSE:AROC) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Helmerich & Payne and Archrock, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Helmerich & Payne	1	5	7	0	2.46
Archrock	0	1	9	0	2.90

Helmerich & Payne currently has a consensus price target of $44.36, suggesting a potential upside of 25.91%. Archrock has a consensus price target of $42.12, suggesting a potential upside of 52.69%. Given Archrock’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Archrock is more favorable than Helmerich & Payne.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.1% of Helmerich & Payne shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.4% of Archrock shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.4% of Helmerich & Payne shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Archrock shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Helmerich & Payne has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Archrock has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Helmerich & Payne and Archrock”s gross 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	0.94	-$163.70 million	($1.41)	-24.99
Archrock	$1.49 billion	3.24	$322.29 million	$1.94	14.22

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

Dividends

Helmerich & Payne pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Archrock pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Helmerich & Payne pays out -70.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Archrock pays out 47.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Archrock has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Archrock is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Helmerich & Payne and Archrock’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%
Archrock	22.89%	22.33%	7.79%

Summary

Archrock beats Helmerich & Payne on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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 Archrock

Archrock, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Contract Operations and Aftermarket Services. It engages in the designing, sourcing, owning, installing, operating, servicing, repairing, and maintaining of its owned fleet of natural gas compression equipment to provide natural gas compression services. The company also sells over-the-counter parts and components; and provides operations, major and routine maintenance, overhaul, and reconfiguration services to customers who own compression equipment. It serves integrated and independent oil and natural gas processors, gatherers, and transporters. The company was formerly known as Exterran Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Archrock, Inc. in November 2015. Archrock, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.