STEP Energy Services (STEP) Competitors

STEP Energy Services (TSE:STEP) and Laurentian Bank of Canada (TSE:LB) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation, community ranking, profitability and institutional ownership.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in STEP or LB?

58.3% of STEP Energy Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.9% of Laurentian Bank of Canada shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of STEP Energy Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Laurentian Bank of Canada shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better valuation & earnings, STEP or LB?

STEP Energy Services has higher revenue and earnings than Laurentian Bank of Canada. Laurentian Bank of Canada is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than STEP Energy Services, 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
STEP Energy Services	C$1B	0.32	C$67.32M	C$0.90	4.98
Laurentian Bank of Canada	C$947.10M	1.35	-C$27.32M	-C$0.62	-47.06

Does the media favor STEP or LB?

In the previous week, Laurentian Bank of Canada had 4 more articles in the media than STEP Energy Services. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Laurentian Bank of Canada and 0 mentions for STEP Energy Services. Laurentian Bank of Canada's average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat STEP Energy Services' score of 0.00 indicating that Laurentian Bank of Canada is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
STEP Energy Services	Neutral
Laurentian Bank of Canada	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, STEP or LB?

STEP Energy Services has a beta of 2.07, indicating that its stock price is 107% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Laurentian Bank of Canada has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend STEP or LB?

STEP Energy Services presently has a consensus price target of C$5.21, indicating a potential upside of 16.39%. Laurentian Bank of Canada has a consensus price target of C$28.67, indicating a potential downside of 1.76%. Given STEP Energy Services' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe STEP Energy Services is more favorable than Laurentian Bank of Canada.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
STEP Energy Services	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Laurentian Bank of Canada	3 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.63

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer STEP or LB?

Laurentian Bank of Canada received 244 more outperform votes than STEP Energy Services when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 57.69% of users gave STEP Energy Services an outperform vote while only 40.81% of users gave Laurentian Bank of Canada an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
STEP Energy Services	Outperform Votes 120 57.69%	Underperform Votes 88 42.31%
Laurentian Bank of Canada	Outperform Votes 364 40.81%	Underperform Votes 528 59.19%

Is STEP or LB more profitable?

STEP Energy Services has a net margin of 6.72% compared to Laurentian Bank of Canada's net margin of -1.64%. STEP Energy Services' return on equity of 18.04% beat Laurentian Bank of Canada's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
STEP Energy Services	6.72%	18.04%	9.15%
Laurentian Bank of Canada	-1.64%	-0.55%	-0.03%

Summary

STEP Energy Services beats Laurentian Bank of Canada on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.