Financial Survey: Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) and Western Energy Services (OTCMKTS:WEEEF)

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) and Western Energy Services (OTCMKTS:WEEEF) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Core Laboratories has a beta of 1.41, suggesting that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Energy Services has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Core Laboratories and Western Energy Services”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Core Laboratories	$523.85 million	0.94	$31.40 million	$0.62	16.98
Western Energy Services	$162.82 million	0.32	-$5.22 million	($0.12)	-12.92

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.8% of Core Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Core Laboratories shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 50.0% of Western Energy Services shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Core Laboratories and Western Energy Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Core Laboratories	5.73%	14.15%	6.18%
Western Energy Services	-2.43%	-1.86%	-1.27%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Core Laboratories and Western Energy Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Core Laboratories	0	2	0	0	2.00
Western Energy Services	0	0	0	0	0.00

Core Laboratories currently has a consensus price target of $12.50, indicating a potential upside of 18.71%. Given Core Laboratories’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Core Laboratories is more favorable than Western Energy Services.

Summary

Core Laboratories beats Western Energy Services on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Core Laboratories

Core Laboratories Inc. provides reservoir description and production enhancement services and products to the oil and gas industry in the United States, and internationally. It operates through Reservoir Description and Production Enhancement segments. The Reservoir Description segment includes the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock and reservoir fluid samples to enhance production and improve recovery of crude oil and gas from its clients' reservoirs. It offers laboratory-based analytical and field services to characterize properties of crude oil and oil delivered products; and proprietary and joint industry studies, as well as services that support carbon capture, utilization and storage, geothermal projects, and the evaluation and appraisal of mining activities. The Production Enhancement segment provides services and products relating to reservoir well completions, perforations, stimulations, production, and well abandonment. It offers integrated diagnostic services to evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of well completions and to develop solutions to improve the effectiveness of enhanced oil recovery projects. The company markets and sells its products through a combination of sales representatives, technical seminars, trade shows, and print advertising, as well as through distributors. Core Laboratories Inc. was founded in 1936 and is based in Houston, Texas.

About Western Energy Services

Western Energy Services Corp. operates as an oilfield service company in Canada and the United States. It operates through Contract Drilling and Production Services segments. The Contract Drilling segment provides contract drilling services using drilling rigs and auxiliary equipment. The Production Services segment offers well servicing rig and related equipment, as well as rental equipment services. Western Energy Services Corp. is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.