Schlumberger (SLB) Competitors

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

Which has stronger 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	10.91
Halliburton	$22.94B	0.79	$2.50B	$2.83	7.44

Do analysts rate SLB or HAL?

Schlumberger presently has a consensus target price of $54.68, indicating a potential upside of 61.11%. Halliburton has a consensus target price of $37.37, indicating a potential upside of 77.56%. Given Halliburton's higher possible upside, analysts clearly 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

Does the media refer more to SLB or HAL?

In the previous week, Schlumberger had 17 more articles in the media than Halliburton. MarketBeat recorded 38 mentions for Schlumberger and 21 mentions for Halliburton. Halliburton's average media sentiment score of 1.21 beat Schlumberger's score of 1.14 indicating that Halliburton is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Schlumberger	28 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Halliburton	14 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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 insiders and institutionals 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, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

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.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SLB or HAL?

Halliburton received 211 more outperform votes than Schlumberger when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 80.47% of users gave Halliburton an outperform vote while only 76.79% of users gave Schlumberger an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Schlumberger	Outperform Votes 1734 76.79%	Underperform Votes 524 23.21%
Halliburton	Outperform Votes 1945 80.47%	Underperform Votes 472 19.53%

Which has more risk and volatility, SLB or HAL?

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

Summary

Schlumberger beats Halliburton on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.