Halliburton (HAL) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer HAL or SLB?

Halliburton received 214 more outperform votes than Schlumberger when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 80.50% of users gave Halliburton an outperform vote while only 76.76% of users gave Schlumberger an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Halliburton	Outperform Votes 1945 80.50%	Underperform Votes 471 19.50%
Schlumberger	Outperform Votes 1731 76.76%	Underperform Votes 524 23.24%

Which has more volatility and risk, HAL or SLB?

Halliburton has a beta of 1.84, indicating that its share price is 84% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Schlumberger has a beta of 1.47, indicating that its share price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is HAL or SLB more profitable?

Schlumberger has a net margin of 12.29% compared to Halliburton's net margin of 10.90%. Halliburton's return on equity of 26.03% beat Schlumberger's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Halliburton	10.90%	26.03%	10.50%
Schlumberger	12.29%	21.90%	9.98%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in HAL or SLB?

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

Do analysts rate HAL or SLB?

Halliburton presently has a consensus target price of $37.42, indicating a potential upside of 45.69%. Schlumberger has a consensus target price of $55.81, indicating a potential upside of 32.16%. Given Halliburton's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Halliburton is more favorable than Schlumberger.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Halliburton	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.70
Schlumberger	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82

Does the media favor HAL or SLB?

In the previous week, Schlumberger had 7 more articles in the media than Halliburton. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for Schlumberger and 24 mentions for Halliburton. Schlumberger's average media sentiment score of 1.40 beat Halliburton's score of 1.07 indicating that Schlumberger is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Halliburton	17 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Schlumberger	28 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, HAL or SLB?

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
Halliburton	$22.94B	0.97	$2.50B	$2.83	9.08
Schlumberger	$36.29B	1.58	$4.46B	$3.11	13.58

Is HAL or SLB a better dividend stock?

Halliburton pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Schlumberger pays an annual dividend of $1.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Halliburton pays out 24.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Schlumberger pays out 36.7% 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.

Summary

Schlumberger beats Halliburton on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.