Head to Head Survey: Cactus (NYSE:WHD) versus Tidewater (NYSE:TDW)

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) and Cactus (NYSE:WHD) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Tidewater has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cactus has a beta of 1.49, suggesting that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Tidewater and Cactus, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tidewater	0	2	2	0	2.50
Cactus	1	3	2	0	2.17

Tidewater presently has a consensus price target of $69.33, indicating a potential upside of 47.63%. Cactus has a consensus price target of $52.33, indicating a potential upside of 17.79%. Given Tidewater’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Tidewater is more favorable than Cactus.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Tidewater and Cactus”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tidewater	$1.35 billion	1.73	$180.66 million	$3.34	14.06
Cactus	$1.13 billion	3.14	$185.41 million	$2.81	15.81

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

Profitability

This table compares Tidewater and Cactus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tidewater	12.98%	15.97%	8.52%
Cactus	16.78%	18.99%	13.76%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.1% of Tidewater shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.1% of Cactus shares are held by institutional investors. 8.3% of Tidewater shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.8% of Cactus shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Cactus beats Tidewater on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Cactus

Cactus, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, sells, and leases pressure control and spoolable pipes in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Middle East, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Pressure Control and Spoolable Technologies. The Pressure Control segment designs, manufactures, sells, and rents a range of wellhead and pressure control equipment under the Cactus Wellhead brand name through service centers. Its products are sold and rented primarily for onshore unconventional oil and gas wells for drilling, completion, and production phases of the wells. This segment also provides field services to install, maintain, and handle the equipment. The Spoolable Technologies segment designs, manufactures, and sells spoolable pipes and associated end fittings under the FlexSteel brand name. Its products are primarily used to transport oil, gas, and other liquids. This segment also provides field services and rental items through service centers and pipe yards, as well as offers equipment and services internationally. In addition, the company offers repair and refurbishment services. Cactus, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.