Critical Review: CES Energy Solutions (OTCMKTS:CESDF) & WBI (NYSE:WBI)

WBI (NYSE:WBI) and CES Energy Solutions (OTCMKTS:CESDF) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for WBI and CES Energy Solutions, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WBI	0	2	4	1	2.86
CES Energy Solutions	0	1	4	0	2.80

WBI currently has a consensus target price of $36.71, suggesting a potential upside of 15.93%. Given WBI’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe WBI is more favorable than CES Energy Solutions.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

42.8% of CES Energy Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. 50.6% of WBI shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares WBI and CES Energy Solutions”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WBI	$525.55 million	7.44	$11.89 million	$0.08	395.88
CES Energy Solutions	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.29	48.15

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

Dividends

WBI pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. CES Energy Solutions pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. WBI pays out 250.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CES Energy Solutions pays out 97.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CES Energy Solutions is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares WBI and CES Energy Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WBI	0.54%	0.85%	0.41%
CES Energy Solutions	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

WBI beats CES Energy Solutions on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About WBI

WaterBridge Infrastructure LLC is an integrated, pure-play water infrastructure company. WaterBridge Infrastructure LLC is based in HOUSTON.

About CES Energy Solutions

CES Energy Solutions Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in design, implement, and manufacture of advanced consumable fluids and specialty chemicals in the United States and Canada. The company provides solutions for drill-bit, point of completion and stimulation, wellhead and pump-jack, and pipeline and midstream markets. Its solutions include corrosion inhibitors, demulsifiers, H2S scavengers, paraffin control products, surfactants, scale inhibitors, biocides, and other specialty products. The company also designs and implements drilling fluid systems and completion solutions for oil and natural gas producers; designs and manufactures production and specialty chemicals for use in the oil and natural gas production and industrial markets; designs, blends, and sells specialty drilling fluids; designs, blends, and sells simulation and production chemicals for oil and gas producers; and operates trucks and trailers to transport drilling fluids to operators in the oil and gas industry. In addition, it provides environmental consulting, water management and transfer services, and drilling fluids waste disposal services; and laboratory services. The company was formerly known as Canadian Energy Services & Technology Corp. and changed its name to CES Energy Solutions Corp. in June 2017. CES Energy Solutions Corp. was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.