Reviewing ProPetro (NYSE:PUMP) and Forum Energy Technologies (NYSE:FET)

Forum Energy Technologies (NYSE:FET) and ProPetro (NYSE:PUMP) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

65.6% of Forum Energy Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.7% of ProPetro shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.7% of Forum Energy Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of ProPetro shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Forum Energy Technologies and ProPetro’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Forum Energy Technologies	-0.19%	9.45%	3.58%
ProPetro	-1.15%	-1.49%	-0.89%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Forum Energy Technologies and ProPetro”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Forum Energy Technologies	$791.47 million	1.17	-$9.66 million	($0.15)	-548.18
ProPetro	$1.27 billion	0.90	$820,000.00	($0.11)	-84.32

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Forum Energy Technologies and ProPetro, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Forum Energy Technologies	1	0	0	1	2.50
ProPetro	1	4	8	0	2.54

ProPetro has a consensus target price of $15.25, suggesting a potential upside of 64.42%. Given ProPetro’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ProPetro is more favorable than Forum Energy Technologies.

Volatility and Risk

Forum Energy Technologies has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ProPetro has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

ProPetro beats Forum Energy Technologies on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Forum Energy Technologies

Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes products serving the oil, natural gas, industrial, and renewable energy industries in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Drilling & Downhole, Completions, and Production. The Drilling & Downhole segment designs, manufactures, and supplies products, and provides related services to the drilling, well construction, artificial lift, and subsea energy construction and services markets, including applications in oil and natural gas, renewable energy, defense, and communications. This segment offers drilling technologies consisting of capital equipment and a line of products consumed in the drilling process; well construction casing and cementing equipment, and products for artificial lift equipment and cables; and subsea remotely operated vehicles and trenchers, submarine rescue vehicles, specialty components and tools, and technical services. The Completions segment offers hydraulic fracturing pumps, cooling systems, high-pressure flexible hoses, and flow iron for pressure pumping markets; wireline cable and pressure control equipment for well completion and intervention service markets; and coiled tubing strings and coiled line pipe and related services. The Production segment designs, manufactures, and supplies products, and provides related equipment and services for production and infrastructure markets. This segment offers engineered process systems, production equipment, specialty separation equipment, and various industrial valves for oil and natural gas customers, power generation, renewable energy, and other general industrial applications. The company was formerly known as Forum Oilfield Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. in August 2010. Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About ProPetro

ProPetro Holding Corp. operates as an integrated oilfield services company. The company provides hydraulic fracturing, wireline, cementing, and other complementary oilfield completion services to upstream oil and gas companies in the Permian Basin. ProPetro Holding Corp. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.