Contrasting SLB (SLB) and Its Peers

SLB (NYSE:SLB) is one of 177 publicly-traded companies in the “Energy Equipment & Services” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare SLB to related companies based on the strength of its profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Dividends

SLB pays an annual dividend of $1.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. SLB pays out 57.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Energy Equipment & Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.1% and pay out 58.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. SLB has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares SLB and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SLB	8.40%	13.77%	6.80%
SLB Competitors	-10.64%	7.40%	1.47%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for SLB and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SLB	1	3	24	0	2.82
SLB Competitors	1676	6833	8618	489	2.45

SLB presently has a consensus target price of $61.52, suggesting a potential upside of 23.14%. As a group, “Energy Equipment & Services” companies have a potential upside of 39.91%. Given SLB’s rivals higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SLB has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Volatility & Risk

SLB has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SLB’s rivals have a beta of 0.82, meaning that their average stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

82.0% of SLB shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.9% of shares of all “Energy Equipment & Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of SLB shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.3% of shares of all “Energy Equipment & Services” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares SLB and its rivals revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
SLB	$35.71 billion	$3.37 billion	24.25
SLB Competitors	$3.24 billion	$29.73 million	12.73

SLB has higher revenue and earnings than its rivals. SLB is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

SLB beats its rivals on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

SLB Company Profile

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products. It also offers subsurface geology and fluids evaluation information; open and cased hole services; exploration and production pressure, and flow-rate measurement services; and pressure pumping, well stimulation, and coiled tubing equipment solutions. In addition, the company offers mud logging, directional drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services, as well as engineering support services; supplies drilling fluid systems; designs, manufactures, and markets roller cone and fixed cutter drill bits; bottom-hole-assembly and borehole enlargement technologies; well cementing products and services; well planning, well drilling, engineering, supervision, logistics, procurement, and contracting of third parties, as well as drilling rig management solutions; and drilling equipment and services, as well as land drilling rigs and related services. Further, it provides artificial lift production equipment and optimization services; supplies packers, safety valves, sand control technology, and various intelligent well completions technology and equipment; designs and manufactures valves, chokes, actuators, and surface trees; and OneSubsea, an integrated solutions, products, systems, and services, including wellheads, subsea trees, manifolds and flowline connectors, control systems, connectors, and services. The company was formerly known as Socie´te´ de Prospection E´lectrique. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1926 and is based in Houston, Texas.