Contrasting RPC (NYSE:RES) & Flotek Industries (NYSE:FTK)

Flotek Industries (NYSE:FTK) and RPC (NYSE:RES) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Flotek Industries has a beta of 1.46, suggesting that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, RPC has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Flotek Industries and RPC’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flotek Industries	14.48%	22.62%	12.96%
RPC	3.12%	5.58%	4.26%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Flotek Industries and RPC, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flotek Industries	0	1	2	1	3.00
RPC	1	4	0	0	1.80

Flotek Industries presently has a consensus price target of $17.50, indicating a potential downside of 0.77%. RPC has a consensus price target of $5.00, indicating a potential downside of 7.83%. Given Flotek Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Flotek Industries is more favorable than RPC.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Flotek Industries and RPC”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flotek Industries	$187.02 million	2.83	$10.50 million	$0.89	19.81
RPC	$1.42 billion	0.85	$91.44 million	$0.23	23.59

RPC has higher revenue and earnings than Flotek Industries. Flotek Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than RPC, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

10.9% of Flotek Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.1% of RPC shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Flotek Industries shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 60.5% of RPC shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Flotek Industries beats RPC on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Flotek Industries

Flotek Industries, Inc. operates as a technology-driven green chemistry and data company that serves customers across industrial and commercial markets in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Chemistry Technologies (CT) and Data Analytics (DA). The CT segment designs, develops, manufactures, packages, distributes, delivers, and markets green specialty chemicals that enhance the profitability of hydrocarbon producers, as well as green specialty chemistries, and logistics and technology services. This segment primarily serves integrated oil and gas, oilfield services, independent oil and gas, national and state-owned oil, geothermal energy, solar energy, and alternative energy companies. The DA segment designs, develops, produces, sells, and supports equipment and services that create and provide valuable information on the composition and properties of energy customers' hydrocarbon fluids. It sells its products directly through a mix of in-house sales professionals, as well as contractual agency agreements. Flotek Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About RPC

RPC, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages provision of a range of oilfield services and equipment for the oil and gas companies involved in the exploration, production, and development of oil and gas properties. The company operates through Technical Services and Support Services segments. The Technical Services segment offers pressure pumping, fracturing, acidizing, cementing, downhole tools, coiled tubing, snubbing, nitrogen, well control, wireline, pump down, and fishing services that are used in the completion, production, and maintenance of oil and gas wells. The Support Services segment provides a range of rental tools for onshore and offshore oil and gas well drilling, completion, and workover activities. This segment also offers oilfield pipe inspection, and pipe management and storage services, as well as well control training and consulting services. It operates in the United States, Africa, Canada, Argentina, China, Mexico, Latin America, the Middle East, and internationally. The company was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.