Ranger Energy Services (NYSE:RNGR – Get Free Report) and Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN – Get Free Report) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Ranger Energy Services and Patterson-UTI Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Ranger Energy Services | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 |
| Patterson-UTI Energy | 0 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 2.60 |
Ranger Energy Services presently has a consensus target price of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 63.03%. Patterson-UTI Energy has a consensus target price of $13.95, suggesting a potential upside of 33.92%. Given Ranger Energy Services’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Ranger Energy Services is more favorable than Patterson-UTI Energy.
Dividends
Ranger Energy Services pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Patterson-UTI Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Ranger Energy Services pays out 36.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Patterson-UTI Energy pays out -666.7% 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. Ranger Energy Services has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Patterson-UTI Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Profitability
This table compares Ranger Energy Services and Patterson-UTI Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Ranger Energy Services | 2.44% | 5.18% | 3.48% |
| Patterson-UTI Energy | -0.52% | -0.58% | -0.34% |
Volatility and Risk
Ranger Energy Services has a beta of 0.25, suggesting that its stock price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Patterson-UTI Energy has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Ranger Energy Services and Patterson-UTI Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Ranger Energy Services | $546.90 million | 0.52 | $12.30 million | $0.65 | 18.87 |
| Patterson-UTI Energy | $4.83 billion | 0.82 | -$93.64 million | ($0.06) | -173.67 |
Ranger Energy Services has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Patterson-UTI Energy. Patterson-UTI Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ranger Energy Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
68.1% of Ranger Energy Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.9% of Patterson-UTI Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Ranger Energy Services shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Patterson-UTI Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Ranger Energy Services beats Patterson-UTI Energy on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Ranger Energy Services
Ranger Energy Services, Inc. provides well service and related services to the U.S. oil and gas industry. Its work focuses on maintaining, repairing and improving existing wells, as well as supporting well completion and production activities. The company’s services include high-specification well service rigs, wireline services and ancillary offerings such as equipment rentals and other field services. These capabilities support well intervention, maintenance and production operations. Ranger serves customers in major onshore oil and gas regions across the United States.
About Patterson-UTI Energy
Patterson-UTI Energy provides contract drilling and related services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies. Its offerings include land-based drilling rigs, directional drilling, pressure pumping and other well-completion services, as well as equipment and technologies used in drilling operations. The company serves customers across major U.S. oil and gas regions, including the Permian Basin and other active shale areas. Its operations combine services that support wells through multiple stages, from drilling to completion.
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