Head to Head Comparison: Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) and Dawson Geophysical (NASDAQ:DWSN)

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) and Dawson Geophysical (NASDAQ:DWSN) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Dividends

Baker Hughes pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Dawson Geophysical pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.2%. Baker Hughes pays out 29.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Dawson Geophysical pays out -457.1% 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. Baker Hughes has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Dawson Geophysical is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk & Volatility

Baker Hughes has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dawson Geophysical has a beta of -0.13, meaning that its share price is 113% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Baker Hughes and Dawson Geophysical, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Baker Hughes	1	3	18	0	2.77
Dawson Geophysical	0	1	0	0	2.00

Baker Hughes currently has a consensus price target of $69.18, suggesting a potential upside of 8.34%. Given Baker Hughes’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Baker Hughes is more favorable than Dawson Geophysical.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.1% of Baker Hughes shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.9% of Dawson Geophysical shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Baker Hughes shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Dawson Geophysical 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 Baker Hughes and Dawson Geophysical”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Baker Hughes	$27.73 billion	2.28	$2.59 billion	$3.13	20.40
Dawson Geophysical	$75.63 million	1.29	-$1.94 million	($0.07)	-44.86

Baker Hughes has higher revenue and earnings than Dawson Geophysical. Dawson Geophysical is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Baker Hughes, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Baker Hughes and Dawson Geophysical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Baker Hughes	11.17%	14.17%	6.24%
Dawson Geophysical	-2.57%	-11.82%	-4.42%

Summary

Baker Hughes beats Dawson Geophysical on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes Company provides a portfolio of technologies and services to energy and industrial value chain worldwide. The company operates through Oilfield Services & Equipment (OFSE) and Industrial & Energy Technology (IET) segments. The OFSE segment designs and manufactures products and provides related services, including exploration, appraisal, development, production, rejuvenation, and decommissioning for onshore and offshore oilfield operations. This segment also provides drilling services, drill bits, and drilling and completions fluids; completions, intervention, measurements, pressure pumping, and wireline services; artificial lift systems, and oilfield and industrial chemicals; subsea projects and services, flexible pipe systems, and surface pressure control systems; and integrated well services and solutions. It serves oil and natural gas companies; the United States and international independent oil and natural gas companies; national or state-owned oil companies; engineering, procurement, and construction contractors; geothermal companies; and other oilfield service companies. The IET segment provides gas technology equipment, including drivers, driven equipment, flow control, and turnkey solutions for the mechanical-drive, compression, and power-generation applications; and energy sectors, such as oil and gas, LNG operations, petrochemical, and carbon solutions. This segment also provides rack-based vibration monitoring equipment and sensors; integrated asset performance management products; inspection services; pumps, valves, and gears; precision sensors and instrumentation, and condition monitoring solutions. It serves upstream, midstream, downstream, onshore, offshore, and small and large scale customers. The company was formerly known as Baker Hughes, a GE company and changed its name to Baker Hughes Company in October 2019. Baker Hughes Company was incorporated in 2016 and is based in Houston, Texas.

About Dawson Geophysical

Dawson Geophysical Company provides onshore seismic data acquisition and processing services in the United States and Canada. The company acquires and processes 2-D, 3-D, and multi-component seismic data for its clients, including oil and gas companies, and independent oil and gas operators, as well as providers of multi-client data libraries and carbon capture sequestration projects. Its seismic crews supply seismic data primarily to companies engaged in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas on land and in land-to-water transition areas, as well as potash mining industry. The company was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas. Dawson Geophysical Company is a subsidiary of Wilks Brothers, LLC.