Precision Drilling (PDS) Competitors

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) and Precision Drilling (NYSE:PDS) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, community ranking, profitability, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in NOG or PDS?

98.8% of Northern Oil and Gas shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.9% of Precision Drilling shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Northern Oil and Gas shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Precision Drilling shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend NOG or PDS?

Northern Oil and Gas currently has a consensus price target of $44.78, suggesting a potential upside of 84.67%. Precision Drilling has a consensus price target of $112.00, suggesting a potential upside of 158.21%. Given Precision Drilling's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Precision Drilling is more favorable than Northern Oil and Gas.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northern Oil and Gas	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Precision Drilling	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Is NOG or PDS more profitable?

Northern Oil and Gas has a net margin of 23.38% compared to Precision Drilling's net margin of 5.87%. Northern Oil and Gas' return on equity of 24.41% beat Precision Drilling's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northern Oil and Gas	23.38%	24.41%	10.61%
Precision Drilling	5.87%	6.72%	3.78%

Does the media refer more to NOG or PDS?

In the previous week, Precision Drilling had 4 more articles in the media than Northern Oil and Gas. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Precision Drilling and 11 mentions for Northern Oil and Gas. Northern Oil and Gas' average media sentiment score of 0.76 beat Precision Drilling's score of 0.02 indicating that Northern Oil and Gas is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Northern Oil and Gas	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Precision Drilling	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, NOG or PDS?

Northern Oil and Gas has higher revenue and earnings than Precision Drilling. Northern Oil and Gas is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Precision Drilling, 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
Northern Oil and Gas	$2.16B	1.11	$922.97M	$5.14	4.72
Precision Drilling	$1.90B	0.30	$81.15M	$5.38	8.06

Is NOG or PDS a better dividend stock?

Northern Oil and Gas pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.4%. Precision Drilling pays an annual dividend of ($99.9990) per share and has a dividend yield of -230.5%. Northern Oil and Gas pays out 35.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Precision Drilling pays out -1,858.7% 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in NOG or PDS?

Precision Drilling received 566 more outperform votes than Northern Oil and Gas when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.52% of users gave Precision Drilling an outperform vote while only 37.50% of users gave Northern Oil and Gas an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Northern Oil and Gas	Outperform Votes 42 37.50%	Underperform Votes 70 62.50%
Precision Drilling	Outperform Votes 608 65.52%	Underperform Votes 320 34.48%

Which has more risk and volatility, NOG or PDS?

Northern Oil and Gas has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Precision Drilling has a beta of 1.53, indicating that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Northern Oil and Gas beats Precision Drilling on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.