Gulf Island Fabrication (GIFI) Competitors

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) and Gulf Island Fabrication (NASDAQ:GIFI) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation and dividends.

Is NGS or GIFI more profitable?

Natural Gas Services Group has a net margin of 10.92% compared to Gulf Island Fabrication's net margin of 6.45%. Gulf Island Fabrication's return on equity of 12.59% beat Natural Gas Services Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Natural Gas Services Group	10.92%	7.21%	3.69%
Gulf Island Fabrication	6.45%	12.59%	8.72%

Do analysts rate NGS or GIFI?

Natural Gas Services Group currently has a consensus price target of $32.50, indicating a potential upside of 21.68%. Given Natural Gas Services Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Natural Gas Services Group is more favorable than Gulf Island Fabrication.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Natural Gas Services Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.50
Gulf Island Fabrication	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Which has more volatility and risk, NGS or GIFI?

Natural Gas Services Group has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gulf Island Fabrication has a beta of 0.24, suggesting that its share price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of NGS or GIFI?

65.6% of Natural Gas Services Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.4% of Gulf Island Fabrication shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of Natural Gas Services Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.1% of Gulf Island Fabrication shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is NGS or GIFI a better dividend stock?

Natural Gas Services Group pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Gulf Island Fabrication pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Natural Gas Services Group pays out 28.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Gulf Island Fabrication pays out 6.8% 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.

Does the media favor NGS or GIFI?

In the previous week, Natural Gas Services Group had 4 more articles in the media than Gulf Island Fabrication. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Natural Gas Services Group and 0 mentions for Gulf Island Fabrication. Natural Gas Services Group's average media sentiment score of 1.15 beat Gulf Island Fabrication's score of 0.00 indicating that Natural Gas Services Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Natural Gas Services Group	Positive
Gulf Island Fabrication	Neutral

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, NGS or GIFI?

Natural Gas Services Group has higher revenue and earnings than Gulf Island Fabrication. Gulf Island Fabrication is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Natural Gas Services Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Natural Gas Services Group	$156.74M	2.14	$17.23M	$1.42	18.81
Gulf Island Fabrication	$152.87M	0.71	$14.74M	$0.59	11.51

Summary

Natural Gas Services Group beats Gulf Island Fabrication on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.