Halliburton (HAL) Competitors

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

Is SLB or HAL a better dividend stock?

Schlumberger pays an annual dividend of $1.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Halliburton pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Schlumberger pays out 36.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Halliburton pays out 24.0% 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.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in SLB or HAL?

82.0% of Schlumberger shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.2% of Halliburton shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Schlumberger shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Halliburton shares are owned 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 SLB or HAL 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
Schlumberger	12.29%	21.90%	9.98%
Halliburton	10.90%	26.03%	10.50%

Do analysts recommend SLB or HAL?

Schlumberger presently has a consensus price target of $54.21, suggesting a potential upside of 59.90%. Halliburton has a consensus price target of $36.95, suggesting a potential upside of 73.87%. Given Halliburton's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Halliburton is more favorable than Schlumberger.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Schlumberger	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.85
Halliburton	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.70

Which has more risk & volatility, SLB or HAL?

Schlumberger has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Halliburton has a beta of 1.45, meaning that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SLB or HAL?

Halliburton received 211 more outperform votes than Schlumberger when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 80.48% of users gave Halliburton an outperform vote while only 76.80% of users gave Schlumberger an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Schlumberger	Outperform Votes 1735 76.80%	Underperform Votes 524 23.20%
Halliburton	Outperform Votes 1946 80.48%	Underperform Votes 472 19.52%

Which has preferable valuation and 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	$36.29B	1.27	$4.46B	$3.11	10.90
Halliburton	$22.94B	0.80	$2.50B	$2.83	7.51

Does the media favor SLB or HAL?

In the previous week, Schlumberger had 11 more articles in the media than Halliburton. MarketBeat recorded 38 mentions for Schlumberger and 27 mentions for Halliburton. Schlumberger's average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat Halliburton's score of 0.96 indicating that Schlumberger is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Schlumberger	24 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Halliburton	16 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

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