Head-To-Head Contrast: Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) & Royale Energy (OTCMKTS:ROYL)

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) and Royale Energy (OTCMKTS:ROYL) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Patterson-UTI Energy and Royale Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Patterson-UTI Energy	0	5	7	0	2.58
Royale Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00

Patterson-UTI Energy currently has a consensus target price of $9.50, indicating a potential upside of 44.82%. Given Patterson-UTI Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Patterson-UTI Energy is more favorable than Royale Energy.

Volatility and Risk

Patterson-UTI Energy has a beta of 1.32, indicating that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Royale Energy has a beta of -0.68, indicating that its stock price is 168% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Patterson-UTI Energy and Royale Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Patterson-UTI Energy	$5.38 billion	0.47	-$968.03 million	($2.60)	-2.52
Royale Energy	$2.23 million	1.73	-$3.49 million	($0.04)	-1.00

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

Profitability

This table compares Patterson-UTI Energy and Royale Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Patterson-UTI Energy	-19.78%	-0.70%	-0.43%
Royale Energy	-133.58%	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.9% of Patterson-UTI Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.4% of Patterson-UTI Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 61.8% of Royale Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of contract drilling services to oil and natural gas operators in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Drilling Services, Completion Services, and Drilling Products. The Contract Drilling Services segment provides contract and directional drilling services in onshore oil and natural gas basins, as well as engages in the service and re-certification of equipment for drilling contractors, and provision of electrical controls and automation to the energy, marine and mining industries. The Completion Services segment offers services for hydraulic fracturing, wireline and pumping, completion support, and cementing; and involved in the power solutions natural gas fueling, and logistics and storage businesses. The Drilling Products segment manufactures and distributes drill bits for energy and mining markets. It also provides software and services, such as MWD Survey FDIR, a data analytics technology to analyze MWD survey data in real-time and identify the position of a well; HiFi Nav, which enhances FDIR by targeting improved vertical placement of the directional well within the reservoir; HiFi Guidance, utilizes trajectory optimization to determine optimal steering recommendations and placement within the reservoir; and rents oilfield tools. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Royale Energy

Royale Energy, Inc. acquires, explores for, develops, produces, and sells oil and natural gas properties in the United States. Its principal operations are located in the Sacramento Basin and San Joaquin Basin in California, as well as in Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Colorado. Royale Energy, Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is based in El Cajon, California.