Financial Comparison: RPC (NYSE:RES) vs. Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP)

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) and RPC (NYSE:RES) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

96.1% of Helmerich & Payne shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.1% of RPC shares are held by institutional investors. 4.4% of Helmerich & Payne shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 58.8% of RPC shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Helmerich & Payne pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. RPC pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Helmerich & Payne pays out -70.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. RPC pays out 177.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Helmerich & Payne and RPC, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Helmerich & Payne	2	4	5	0	2.27
RPC	1	3	0	0	1.75

Helmerich & Payne presently has a consensus price target of $42.20, suggesting a potential downside of 4.80%. RPC has a consensus price target of $6.00, suggesting a potential downside of 7.83%. Given Helmerich & Payne’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Helmerich & Payne is more favorable than RPC.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Helmerich & Payne and RPC”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Helmerich & Payne	$4.00 billion	1.11	-$163.70 million	($1.41)	-31.44
RPC	$1.63 billion	0.89	$32.08 million	$0.09	72.33

RPC has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Helmerich & Payne. Helmerich & Payne is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than RPC, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Helmerich & Payne has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, RPC has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Helmerich & Payne and RPC’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Helmerich & Payne	-3.43%	-2.35%	-0.99%
RPC	1.28%	4.82%	3.60%

Summary

RPC beats Helmerich & Payne on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.