Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT – Get Free Report) and Transocean (NYSE:RIG – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.
Risk & Volatility
Liberty Energy has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Transocean has a beta of 1.44, indicating that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Liberty Energy and Transocean’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Liberty Energy | 0.91% | 2.13% | 0.99% |
| Transocean | 7.25% | 1.84% | 1.00% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Liberty Energy and Transocean”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Liberty Energy | $4.01 billion | 0.53 | $147.87 million | $0.24 | 53.88 |
| Transocean | $3.96 billion | 1.50 | -$2.92 billion | $0.14 | 38.04 |
Liberty Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Transocean. Transocean is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Liberty Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
98.2% of Liberty Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.7% of Transocean shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Liberty Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of Transocean shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Liberty Energy and Transocean, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Liberty Energy | 0 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 2.57 |
| Transocean | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2.17 |
Liberty Energy presently has a consensus target price of $26.42, suggesting a potential upside of 104.31%. Transocean has a consensus target price of $6.61, suggesting a potential upside of 24.08%. Given Liberty Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Liberty Energy is more favorable than Transocean.
Summary
Liberty Energy beats Transocean on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Liberty Energy
Liberty Energy Inc. is a Denver-based oilfield services company that supports onshore oil and natural gas producers, primarily in the United States. Founded in 2011 as Liberty Oilfield Services, the company adopted the Liberty Energy name in 2022. Its core business is hydraulic fracturing, a well-completion technique used to extract oil and natural gas. Liberty also provides related services and equipment, including wireline operations, proppant and logistics solutions, and technologies designed to support wellsite operations.
About Transocean
Transocean Ltd. is an offshore contract drilling company that provides drilling services to oil and gas companies around the world. Its work focuses on offshore exploration and development, particularly in deepwater and harsh-environment locations. The company owns and operates a fleet of offshore drilling rigs, including drillships and semisubmersible rigs. It contracts these rigs to customers and provides the crews and related services needed to conduct offshore drilling operations. Transocean serves customers across multiple offshore regions worldwide.
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