Contrasting Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) & Solaris Energy Infrastructure (NYSE:SEI)

Solaris Energy Infrastructure (NYSE:SEI) and Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Solaris Energy Infrastructure and Tidewater”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Solaris Energy Infrastructure	$622.21 million	9.23	$30.17 million	$0.85	88.20
Tidewater	$1.35 billion	3.11	$334.66 million	$4.94	17.06

Tidewater has higher revenue and earnings than Solaris Energy Infrastructure. Tidewater is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Solaris Energy Infrastructure, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Solaris Energy Infrastructure pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Tidewater pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Solaris Energy Infrastructure pays out 56.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Tidewater pays out 20.2% 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. Tidewater is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Solaris Energy Infrastructure and Tidewater’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Solaris Energy Infrastructure	7.19%	13.26%	4.80%
Tidewater	18.34%	5.36%	3.05%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Solaris Energy Infrastructure and Tidewater, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Solaris Energy Infrastructure	0	2	10	0	2.83
Tidewater	0	6	3	1	2.50

Solaris Energy Infrastructure presently has a consensus price target of $94.17, suggesting a potential upside of 25.61%. Tidewater has a consensus price target of $98.25, suggesting a potential upside of 16.57%. Given Solaris Energy Infrastructure’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Solaris Energy Infrastructure is more favorable than Tidewater.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

67.4% of Solaris Energy Infrastructure shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.1% of Tidewater shares are held by institutional investors. 20.2% of Solaris Energy Infrastructure shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Tidewater shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Solaris Energy Infrastructure has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tidewater has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Solaris Energy Infrastructure beats Tidewater on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Solaris Energy Infrastructure

Solaris Energy Infrastructure, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture of patented mobile proppant management systems that unload, store, and deliver proppant to oil and natural gas well sites. Its products include Mobile Proppant and Mobile Chemical Management Systems, and Inventory Management Software. The firm’s services include field, last mile management, and transloading services. The company was founded by William A. Zartler in 2014 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

About Tidewater

Tidewater Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore support vessels and marine support services to the offshore energy industry through the operation of a fleet of marine service vessels worldwide. It provides services in support of offshore oil and gas exploration, field development, and production, as well as windfarm development and maintenance, including towing of and anchor handling for mobile offshore drilling units; transporting supplies and personnel necessary to sustain drilling, workover, and production activities; offshore construction, and seismic and subsea support; geotechnical survey support for windfarm construction; and various specialized services, such as pipe and cable laying. The company operates anchor handling towing supply vessels, platform supply vessels, crew boats, utility vessels, and offshore tugs. The company serves integrated and independent oil and gas exploration, field development, and production companies; mid-sized and smaller independent exploration and production companies; foreign government-owned or government-controlled organizations, and other related companies; offshore drilling contractors; and other companies, such as offshore construction, windfarm development, diving, and well stimulation companies. Tidewater Inc. was incorporated in 1956 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.