Contrasting Petrofac (OTCMKTS:POFCY) & Helix Energy Solutions Group (NYSE:HLX)

Petrofac (OTCMKTS:POFCY) and Helix Energy Solutions Group (NYSE:HLX) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Petrofac and Helix Energy Solutions Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Petrofac	0	0	0	0	0.00
Helix Energy Solutions Group	0	2	2	0	2.50

Helix Energy Solutions Group has a consensus target price of $10.50, suggesting a potential upside of 37.17%. Given Helix Energy Solutions Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Helix Energy Solutions Group is more favorable than Petrofac.

Risk & Volatility

Petrofac has a beta of 2.88, indicating that its stock price is 188% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Helix Energy Solutions Group has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.3% of Helix Energy Solutions Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.4% of Helix Energy Solutions Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Petrofac and Helix Energy Solutions Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Petrofac	N/A	N/A	N/A
Helix Energy Solutions Group	3.25%	2.75%	1.62%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Petrofac and Helix Energy Solutions Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Petrofac	$2.50 billion	0.00	-$505.00 million	N/A	N/A
Helix Energy Solutions Group	$1.36 billion	0.83	$55.64 million	$0.28	27.34

Helix Energy Solutions Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Petrofac.

Summary

Helix Energy Solutions Group beats Petrofac on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Petrofac

Petrofac Limited designs, builds, manages, and maintains infrastructure for the energy industries in the United Kingdom, Algeria, Thailand, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Engineering & Construction (E&C); Asset Solutions; and Integrated Energy Services (IES). The E&C segment provides onshore and offshore engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning services. The Asset Solutions segment offers concept, feasibility, and front-end engineering design services, as well as manages and maintains onshore and offshore operations. The IES segment focuses on delivering value from the existing asset portfolio. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in St Helier, Jersey.

About Helix Energy Solutions Group

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, an offshore energy services company, provides specialty services to the offshore energy industry in Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico, the East Coast of the United States, North Sea, the Asia Pacific, and West Africa regions. The company operates through four segments: Well Intervention, Robotics, Production Facilities, and Shallow Water Abandonment segments. It engages in the installation of flowlines, control umbilicals, and manifold assemblies and risers; trenching and burial of pipelines; installation and tie-in of riser and manifold assembly; commissioning, testing, and inspection activities; and provision of cable and umbilical lay, and connection services. The company also provides well intervention, intervention engineering, and production enhancement services; coiled tubing operations; inspection, repair, and maintenance of production structures, trees, jumpers, risers, pipelines, and subsea equipment; and related support services. In addition, it offers reclamation and remediation services; well plug and abandonment services; pipeline, cable and umbilical abandonment services; and site inspections. Additionally, the company offers oil and natural gas processing facilities and services; and fast response system, as well as site clearance and subsea support services. Further, it provides offshore oilfield decommissioning and reclamation, project management, engineered solutions, intervention, maintenance, repair, heavy lift, and commercial diving services. It serves independent oil and gas producers and suppliers, pipeline transmission companies, renewable energy companies, and offshore engineering and construction firms. The company was formerly known as Cal Dive International, Inc. and changed its name to Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. in March 2006. Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.