Select Water Solutions (NYSE:WTTR) & Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) Critical Review

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

Dividends

Select Water Solutions pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Helmerich & Payne pays an annual dividend of $1.00 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. Helmerich & Payne pays out -70.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Select Water Solutions has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Helmerich & Payne is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Select Water Solutions and Helmerich & Payne”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Select Water Solutions	$1.41 billion	1.89	$21.22 million	$0.28	68.64
Helmerich & Payne	$3.75 billion	1.13	-$163.70 million	($1.41)	-30.11

Select Water Solutions has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Helmerich & Payne. Helmerich & Payne 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.

Profitability

This table compares Select Water Solutions and Helmerich & Payne’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%
Helmerich & Payne	-3.43%	-2.35%	-0.99%

Risk & Volatility

Select Water Solutions has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Helmerich & Payne has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.7% of Select Water Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of Helmerich & Payne shares are held by institutional investors. 6.2% of Select Water Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.4% of Helmerich & Payne shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Select Water Solutions and Helmerich & Payne, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Select Water Solutions	0	3	6	0	2.67
Helmerich & Payne	1	5	5	0	2.36

Select Water Solutions currently has a consensus price target of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.68%. Helmerich & Payne has a consensus price target of $41.00, suggesting a potential downside of 3.42%. Given Select Water Solutions’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Select Water Solutions is more favorable than Helmerich & Payne.

Summary

Select Water Solutions beats Helmerich & Payne on 13 of the 17 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 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.