Contrasting Solaris Energy Infrastructure (NYSE:SEI) & Tidewater (NYSE:TDW)

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) and Solaris Energy Infrastructure (NYSE:SEI) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Tidewater and Solaris Energy Infrastructure’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tidewater	18.34%	5.36%	3.05%
Solaris Energy Infrastructure	7.19%	13.26%	4.80%

Risk and Volatility

Tidewater has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Solaris Energy Infrastructure has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Tidewater and Solaris Energy Infrastructure, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tidewater	0	6	3	1	2.50
Solaris Energy Infrastructure	0	2	10	0	2.83

Tidewater currently has a consensus target price of $98.25, indicating a potential upside of 19.49%. Solaris Energy Infrastructure has a consensus target price of $94.17, indicating a potential upside of 32.00%. Given Solaris Energy Infrastructure’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Solaris Energy Infrastructure is more favorable than Tidewater.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Tidewater and Solaris Energy Infrastructure”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tidewater	$1.35 billion	3.02	$334.66 million	$4.94	16.64
Solaris Energy Infrastructure	$622.21 million	8.78	$30.17 million	$0.85	83.93

Tidewater has higher revenue and earnings than Solaris Energy Infrastructure. Tidewater is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Solaris Energy Infrastructure, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.1% of Tidewater shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.4% of Solaris Energy Infrastructure shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.9% of Tidewater shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.2% of Solaris Energy Infrastructure shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Solaris Energy Infrastructure beats Tidewater on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tidewater

Tidewater Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore support vessels and marine support services to the offshore energy industry through the operation of a fleet of marine service vessels worldwide. It provides services in support of offshore oil and gas exploration, field development, and production, as well as windfarm development and maintenance, including towing of and anchor handling for mobile offshore drilling units; transporting supplies and personnel necessary to sustain drilling, workover, and production activities; offshore construction, and seismic and subsea support; geotechnical survey support for windfarm construction; and various specialized services, such as pipe and cable laying. The company operates anchor handling towing supply vessels, platform supply vessels, crew boats, utility vessels, and offshore tugs. The company serves integrated and independent oil and gas exploration, field development, and production companies; mid-sized and smaller independent exploration and production companies; foreign government-owned or government-controlled organizations, and other related companies; offshore drilling contractors; and other companies, such as offshore construction, windfarm development, diving, and well stimulation companies. Tidewater Inc. was incorporated in 1956 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Solaris Energy Infrastructure

Solaris Energy Infrastructure, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture of patented mobile proppant management systems that unload, store, and deliver proppant to oil and natural gas well sites. Its products include Mobile Proppant and Mobile Chemical Management Systems, and Inventory Management Software. The firm’s services include field, last mile management, and transloading services. The company was founded by William A. Zartler in 2014 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.