Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) vs. Select Water Solutions (NYSE:WTTR) Financial Survey

Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) and Select Water Solutions (NYSE:WTTR) are both energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.9% of Nabors Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.7% of Select Water Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. 5.3% of Nabors Industries shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Select Water Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Nabors Industries and Select Water Solutions”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nabors Industries	$3.21 billion	0.45	$286.62 million	$13.44	6.74
Select Water Solutions	$1.41 billion	1.97	$21.22 million	$0.28	71.64

Nabors Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Select Water Solutions. Nabors Industries 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Nabors Industries and Select Water Solutions, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nabors Industries	0	6	2	0	2.25
Select Water Solutions	0	3	6	0	2.67

Nabors Industries presently has a consensus price target of $102.57, indicating a potential upside of 13.28%. Select Water Solutions has a consensus price target of $23.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.66%. Given Select Water Solutions’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Select Water Solutions is more favorable than Nabors Industries.

Profitability

This table compares Nabors Industries and Select Water Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nabors Industries	7.64%	-7.06%	-1.45%
Select Water Solutions	2.24%	3.11%	1.92%

Volatility and Risk

Nabors Industries has a beta of 1, indicating that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Select Water Solutions has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Select Water Solutions beats Nabors Industries on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nabors Industries

Nabors Industries Ltd. provides drilling and drilling-related services for land-based and offshore oil and natural gas wells in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: U.S. Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. It provides tubular running services, including casing and tubing running, and torque monitoring; managed pressure drilling services; and drilling-bit steering systems and rig instrumentation software. The company also offers drilling systems comprising ROCKit, a directional steering control system; SmartNAV, a collaborative guidance and advisory platform; SmartSLIDE, a directional steering control system; and RigCLOUD, a digital infrastructure to integrate applications to deliver real-time insight into operations across the rig fleet. In addition, it operates a fleet of land-based drilling rigs and marketed platforms rigs; manufactures and sells top drives, catwalks, wrenches, drawworks, and other drilling related equipment, such as robotic systems and downhole tools; and provides aftermarket sales and services for the installed base of its equipment. Nabors Industries Ltd. was founded in 1952 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

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.