Valaris (NYSE:VAL) vs. MIND Technology (NASDAQ:MIND) Critical Analysis

MIND Technology (NASDAQ:MIND) and Valaris (NYSE:VAL) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for MIND Technology and Valaris, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MIND Technology	1	0	0	0	1.00
Valaris	1	6	0	0	1.86

Valaris has a consensus price target of $67.80, suggesting a potential downside of 19.89%. Given Valaris’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Valaris is more favorable than MIND Technology.

Profitability

This table compares MIND Technology and Valaris’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MIND Technology	-6.77%	-5.77%	-4.85%
Valaris	43.95%	9.25%	5.35%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares MIND Technology and Valaris”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MIND Technology	$34.78 million	1.13	$750,000.00	($0.26)	-16.62
Valaris	$2.37 billion	2.48	$982.80 million	$13.39	6.32

Valaris has higher revenue and earnings than MIND Technology. MIND Technology is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Valaris, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

9.8% of MIND Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.7% of Valaris shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of MIND Technology shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Valaris shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

MIND Technology has a beta of 0.33, suggesting that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Valaris has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Valaris beats MIND Technology on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MIND Technology

MIND Technology, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides technology to the oceanographic, hydrographic, defense, seismic, and maritime security industries worldwide. Its primary products include the GunLink seismic source acquisition and control systems that provide operators of marine seismic surveys with precise monitoring and control of energy sources; the BuoyLink RGPS tracking system, which is used to offer precise positioning of marine seismic energy sources and streamers; Sleeve Gun energy sources; SeaLink towed seismic streamer system; and Sea Serpent line of passive sonar arrays for maritime security and anti-submarine warfare applications. The company also provides streamer weight collars, depth and pressure transducers, air control valves, and source array systems; spare and replacement parts; and repair and engineering services, training and field service operations, and umbilical terminations. The company was formerly known as Mitcham Industries, Inc. MIND Technology, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.

About Valaris

Valaris Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services Gulf of Mexico, South America, North Sea, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through four segments: Floaters, Jackups, ARO, and Other. It owns an offshore drilling rig fleet, which include drillships, dynamically positioned semisubmersible rigs, moored semisubmersible rig, and jackup rigs. It serves international, government-owned, and independent oil and gas. Valaris Limited was founded in 1975 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.