Halliburton (HAL) Competitors

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) are both large-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, community ranking, earnings and institutional ownership.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of SLB or HAL?

82.0% of Schlumberger shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.2% of Halliburton shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Schlumberger shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Halliburton shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, SLB or HAL?

Schlumberger has a beta of 1.51, suggesting that its share price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Halliburton has a beta of 1.9, suggesting that its share price is 90% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is SLB or HAL a better dividend stock?

Schlumberger pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Halliburton pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Schlumberger pays out 35.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Halliburton pays out 23.7% 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.

Is SLB or HAL more profitable?

Schlumberger has a net margin of 12.44% compared to Halliburton's net margin of 11.04%. Halliburton's return on equity of 28.33% beat Schlumberger's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Schlumberger	12.44%	21.84%	9.89%
Halliburton	11.04%	28.33%	11.21%

Do analysts rate SLB or HAL?

Schlumberger presently has a consensus price target of $58.85, suggesting a potential upside of 59.80%. Halliburton has a consensus price target of $39.58, suggesting a potential upside of 52.40%. Given Schlumberger's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Schlumberger is more favorable than Halliburton.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Schlumberger	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86
Halliburton	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.76

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SLB or HAL?

Halliburton received 217 more outperform votes than Schlumberger when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 80.56% of users gave Halliburton an outperform vote while only 76.75% of users gave Schlumberger an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Schlumberger	Outperform Votes 1723 76.75%	Underperform Votes 522 23.25%
Halliburton	Outperform Votes 1940 80.56%	Underperform Votes 468 19.44%

Does the media refer more to SLB or HAL?

In the previous week, Schlumberger had 21 more articles in the media than Halliburton. MarketBeat recorded 43 mentions for Schlumberger and 22 mentions for Halliburton. Schlumberger's average media sentiment score of 0.36 beat Halliburton's score of 0.33 indicating that Schlumberger is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Schlumberger	11 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Halliburton	4 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, SLB or HAL?

Schlumberger has higher revenue and earnings than Halliburton. Halliburton is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Schlumberger, 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
Schlumberger	$36.00B	1.44	$4.20B	$3.11	11.84
Halliburton	$23.07B	0.99	$2.64B	$2.87	9.05

Summary

Schlumberger beats Halliburton on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.