Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT – Get Free Report) and Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL – Get Free Report) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and risk.
Risk and Volatility
Liberty Energy has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bristow Group has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Liberty Energy and Bristow Group, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Liberty Energy | 0 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 2.54 |
| Bristow Group | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2.75 |
Dividends
Liberty Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Bristow Group pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Liberty Energy pays out 48.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bristow Group pays out 14.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Liberty Energy has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Liberty Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
98.2% of Liberty Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.3% of Bristow Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Liberty Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.8% of Bristow Group shares are owned 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 and Earnings
This table compares Liberty Energy and Bristow Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Liberty Energy | $4.01 billion | 0.79 | $147.87 million | $0.74 | 26.19 |
| Bristow Group | $1.49 billion | 0.84 | $129.07 million | $3.47 | 12.12 |
Liberty Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Bristow Group. Bristow Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Liberty Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Liberty Energy and Bristow Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Liberty Energy | 2.92% | 1.14% | 0.57% |
| Bristow Group | 6.66% | 9.82% | 4.45% |
Summary
Bristow Group beats Liberty Energy on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Liberty Energy
Liberty Energy Inc. provides hydraulic services and related technologies to onshore oil and natural gas exploration, and production companies in North America. The company offers hydraulic fracturing services, including complementary services, such as wireline services, proppant delivery solutions, field gas processing and treating, compressed natural gas (CNG) delivery, data analytics, related goods comprising sand mine operations, and technologies; and well site fueling and logistics. As of as of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of approximately 40 active hydraulic fracturing; and two sand mines in the Permian Basin. In addition, the company provides services primarily in the Permian Basin, the Williston Basin, the Eagle Ford Shale, the Haynesville Shale, the Appalachian Basin (Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale), the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, the Denver-Julesburg Basin (the DJ Basin), and the Anadarko Basin. Liberty Energy Inc. was formerly known as Liberty Oilfield Services Inc. and changed its name to Liberty Energy Inc. in April 2022. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
About Bristow Group
Bristow Group Inc. provides vertical flight solutions. The company primarily offers aviation services to integrated, national, and independent offshore energy companies and government agencies. It also provides personnel transportation, search and rescue, medevac, ad hoc helicopter, fixed wing transportation, unmanned systems, and ad-hoc helicopter services, as well as logistical and maintenance support, training services, and flight and maintenance crews. The company has a fleet of aircrafts. It has customers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Dutch Caribbean, the Falkland Islands, India, Ireland, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Suriname, Trinidad, the United Kingdom, and United States. Bristow Group Inc. is based in Houston, Texas.
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