Head-To-Head Review: SEACOR Marine (NYSE:SMHI) and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) and SEACOR Marine (NYSE:SMHI) are both energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

85.2% of Halliburton shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.0% of SEACOR Marine shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Halliburton shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.8% of SEACOR Marine shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Halliburton and SEACOR Marine”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Halliburton	$22.18 billion	1.39	$1.28 billion	$1.91	19.40
SEACOR Marine	$210.44 million	1.26	-$27.84 million	($0.71)	-13.73

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

Profitability

This table compares Halliburton and SEACOR Marine’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Halliburton	7.16%	18.71%	7.89%
SEACOR Marine	-8.62%	-8.72%	-3.46%

Risk and Volatility

Halliburton has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SEACOR Marine has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Halliburton and SEACOR Marine, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Halliburton	1	6	18	0	2.68
SEACOR Marine	1	1	1	0	2.00

Halliburton presently has a consensus price target of $43.10, suggesting a potential upside of 16.32%. SEACOR Marine has a consensus price target of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.56%. Given Halliburton’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Halliburton is more favorable than SEACOR Marine.

Summary

Halliburton beats SEACOR Marine on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Halliburton

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems. This segment also provides electrical submersible pumps, as well as artificial lift services; production solutions comprising coiled tubing, hydraulic workover units, downhole tools, and pumping and nitrogen services; pipeline and process services, such as pre-commissioning, commissioning, maintenance, and decommissioning; and specialty chemicals and services. The Drilling and Evaluation segment offers drilling fluid systems, performance additives, completion fluids, solids control, specialized testing equipment, and waste management services; drilling systems and services; wireline and perforating services consists of open-hole logging, and cased-hole and slickline; and drill bits and services comprising roller cone rock bits, fixed cutter bits, hole enlargement, and related downhole tools and services, as well as coring equipment and services. This segment also provides cloud based digital services and artificial intelligence solutions on an open architecture for subsurface insights, integrated well construction, and reservoir and production management; testing and subsea services, such as acquisition and analysis of reservoir information and optimization solutions; and project management and integrated asset management services. Halliburton Company was founded in 1919 and is based in Houston, Texas.

About SEACOR Marine

SEACOR Marine Holdings Inc. provides marine and support transportation services to offshore oil, natural gas, and windfarm facilities worldwide. Its offshore support and specialty vessels deliver cargo and personnel to offshore installations, including offshore wind farms; handle anchors and mooring equipment for offshore rigs and platforms; assist offshore operations for production and storage facilities; provide construction, well work-over, and offshore wind farm installation and decommissioning support; and carry and launch equipment used underwater in drilling and well installation, maintenance, inspection, and repair, as well as offer accommodations for technicians and specialists, safety support, and emergency response services. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a fleet of 58 support vessels, of which 55 were owned or leased-in, and three were managed on behalf of unaffiliated third parties. It serves integrated national and international oil companies, independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies, and oil field service and construction companies, as well as offshore wind farm operators and offshore wind farm installation and maintenance companies. SEACOR Marine Holdings Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.