Comparing Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) and Ensign Energy Services (OTCMKTS:ESVIF)

Ensign Energy Services (OTCMKTS:ESVIF) and Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

52.8% of Ensign Energy Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.9% of Patterson-UTI Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Patterson-UTI Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ensign Energy Services and Patterson-UTI Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ensign Energy Services	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.84	2.74
Patterson-UTI Energy	$4.67 billion	0.81	-$93.64 million	($0.23)	-42.91

Ensign Energy Services has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Patterson-UTI Energy. Patterson-UTI Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ensign Energy Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Ensign Energy Services pays an annual dividend of $0.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 20.4%. Patterson-UTI Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Ensign Energy Services pays out 56.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Patterson-UTI Energy pays out -173.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Ensign Energy Services and Patterson-UTI Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ensign Energy Services	0	3	0	0	2.00
Patterson-UTI Energy	1	4	9	1	2.67

Patterson-UTI Energy has a consensus price target of $12.95, suggesting a potential upside of 31.21%. Given Patterson-UTI Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Patterson-UTI Energy is more favorable than Ensign Energy Services.

Profitability

This table compares Ensign Energy Services and Patterson-UTI Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ensign Energy Services	N/A	N/A	N/A
Patterson-UTI Energy	-1.92%	-1.68%	-0.98%

Summary

Patterson-UTI Energy beats Ensign Energy Services on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ensign Energy Services

Ensign Energy Services Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides oilfield services to the crude oil and natural gas industries in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company offers shallow, intermediate, and deep well drilling, as well as specialized drilling services, including horizontal, underbalanced, horizontal re-entry, and slant drilling for steam assisted gravity drainage applications; and equipment and services. It provides coring and oil sands drilling services to the mining, and oil and natural gas industries; directional drilling services; equipment rental services; shallow to deep well services, such as completions, abandonments, production workovers, and bottom hole pump changes for oil and natural gas producers; and interactive pressure drilling services with self-contained systems comprising nitrogen generation and compression equipment, and surface control systems. In addition, the company rents drill strings, loaders, tanks, pumps, rig mattings, blow-out preventers, waste bins, and wastewater treatment equipment for the drilling and completions segments of the oilfield industry. Further, it offers transportation and well servicing services. The company operates land drilling rigs, specialty coring rigs, and well servicing rigs. Ensign Energy Services Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of contract drilling services to oil and natural gas operators in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Drilling Services, Completion Services, and Drilling Products. The Contract Drilling Services segment provides contract and directional drilling services in onshore oil and natural gas basins, as well as engages in the service and re-certification of equipment for drilling contractors, and provision of electrical controls and automation to the energy, marine and mining industries. The Completion Services segment offers services for hydraulic fracturing, wireline and pumping, completion support, and cementing; and involved in the power solutions natural gas fueling, and logistics and storage businesses. The Drilling Products segment manufactures and distributes drill bits for energy and mining markets. It also provides software and services, such as MWD Survey FDIR, a data analytics technology to analyze MWD survey data in real-time and identify the position of a well; HiFi Nav, which enhances FDIR by targeting improved vertical placement of the directional well within the reservoir; HiFi Guidance, utilizes trajectory optimization to determine optimal steering recommendations and placement within the reservoir; and rents oilfield tools. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.