Borr Drilling (NYSE:BORR) versus Noble (NYSE:NE) Head-To-Head Review

Noble (NYSE:NE) and Borr Drilling (NYSE:BORR) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Noble has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Borr Drilling has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Noble and Borr Drilling’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Noble	6.60%	2.34%	1.40%
Borr Drilling	4.41%	4.14%	1.29%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Noble and Borr Drilling”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Noble	$3.29 billion	2.27	$216.72 million	$1.35	34.58
Borr Drilling	$1.02 billion	1.45	$45.00 million	$0.17	27.68

Noble has higher revenue and earnings than Borr Drilling. Borr Drilling is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Noble, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

68.1% of Noble shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.1% of Borr Drilling shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Noble shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.9% of Borr Drilling shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Noble and Borr Drilling, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Noble	1	10	1	0	2.00
Borr Drilling	0	4	0	0	2.00

Noble currently has a consensus price target of $38.63, suggesting a potential downside of 17.26%. Borr Drilling has a consensus price target of $4.33, suggesting a potential downside of 8.08%. Given Borr Drilling’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Borr Drilling is more favorable than Noble.

Summary

Noble beats Borr Drilling on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Noble

Noble Corp. Plc engages in the provision offshore drilling services for oil and gas industry. It focuses on a balanced fleet of floating and jackup rigs and the deployment of drilling rigs in oil and gas basins around the world. The company was founded by Lloyd Noble and Art Olson in 1921 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Borr Drilling

Borr Drilling Limited operates as an offshore shallow-water drilling contractor to the oil and gas industry worldwide. The company owns, contracts, and operates jack-up drilling rigs for operations in shallow-water areas, including the provision of related equipment and work crews to conduct oil and gas drilling and workover operations for exploration and production. It serves oil and gas exploration and production companies, such as integrated oil companies, state-owned national oil companies, and independent oil and gas companies. The company was formerly known as Magni Drilling Limited and changed its name to Borr Drilling Limited in December 2016. Borr Drilling Limited was incorporated in 2016 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.