ProPetro (NYSE:PUMP – Get Free Report) and Smart Sand (NASDAQ:SND – Get Free Report) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.
Profitability
This table compares ProPetro and Smart Sand’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| ProPetro | 0.06% | 0.10% | 0.07% |
| Smart Sand | 1.16% | -7.55% | -5.25% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
84.7% of ProPetro shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.2% of Smart Sand shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of ProPetro shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 32.3% of Smart Sand shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Valuation and Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| ProPetro | $1.27 billion | 1.05 | $820,000.00 | $0.01 | 1,090.20 |
| Smart Sand | $311.37 million | 0.74 | $2.99 million | $0.09 | 59.00 |
Smart Sand has lower revenue, but higher earnings than ProPetro. Smart Sand is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ProPetro, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for ProPetro and Smart Sand, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| ProPetro | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2.38 |
| Smart Sand | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
ProPetro presently has a consensus target price of $12.67, suggesting a potential upside of 16.19%. Given ProPetro’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ProPetro is more favorable than Smart Sand.
Volatility and Risk
ProPetro has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Smart Sand has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
ProPetro beats Smart Sand on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About ProPetro
ProPetro Holding Corp. operates as an integrated oilfield services company. The company provides hydraulic fracturing, wireline, cementing, and other complementary oilfield completion services to upstream oil and gas companies in the Permian Basin. ProPetro Holding Corp. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.
About Smart Sand
Smart Sand, Inc., an integrated frac and industrial sand supply and services company, engages in the excavation, processing, and sale of sands or proppant for use in hydraulic fracturing operations in the oil and gas industry in the United States. It also provides proppant logistics services; and wellsite storage solutions through SmartSystems products and services. The company sells its products primarily to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies, oilfield service companies, and industrial manufacturers. Smart Sand, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Spring, Texas.
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