Head to Head Comparison: Shelf Drilling (OTCMKTS:SHLLF) and Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR)

Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR) and Shelf Drilling (OTCMKTS:SHLLF) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Nabors Industries and Shelf Drilling’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nabors Industries	-4.73%	-28.10%	-3.08%
Shelf Drilling	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Nabors Industries and Shelf Drilling’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nabors Industries	$3.05 billion	0.24	-$11.78 million	($13.81)	-5.46
Shelf Drilling	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Shelf Drilling has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Nabors Industries.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.9% of Nabors Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 7.3% of Nabors Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Nabors Industries and Shelf Drilling, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nabors Industries	0	4	2	0	2.33
Shelf Drilling	0	0	0	0	N/A

Nabors Industries presently has a consensus target price of $108.50, suggesting a potential upside of 43.96%. Given Nabors Industries’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Nabors Industries is more favorable than Shelf Drilling.

Summary

Nabors Industries beats Shelf Drilling on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nabors Industries

Nabors Industries Ltd. provides drilling and drilling-related services for land-based and offshore oil and natural gas wells in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: U.S. Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. It provides tubular running services, including casing and tubing running, and torque monitoring; managed pressure drilling services; and drilling-bit steering systems and rig instrumentation software. The company also offers drilling systems comprising ROCKit, a directional steering control system; SmartNAV, a collaborative guidance and advisory platform; SmartSLIDE, a directional steering control system; and RigCLOUD, a digital infrastructure to integrate applications to deliver real-time insight into operations across the rig fleet. In addition, it operates a fleet of land-based drilling rigs and marketed platforms rigs; manufactures and sells top drives, catwalks, wrenches, drawworks, and other drilling related equipment, such as robotic systems and downhole tools; and provides aftermarket sales and services for the installed base of its equipment. Nabors Industries Ltd. was founded in 1952 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

About Shelf Drilling

Shelf Drilling, Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a shallow water offshore drilling contractor in the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, India, West Africa, and North Sea. The company offers equipment and services for the drilling, completion, maintenance, and decommissioning of oil and natural gas wells, and associated services using the rigs of the company's owned fleet and related equipment. It also provides catering, additional equipment and personnel, and consumables or accommodations at the request of the customer using third party vendors. It serves government owned or controlled energy companies, and publicly listed global integrated oil companies or independent exploration and production companies. The company owns various independent-leg cantilever jack-up rigs. Shelf Drilling, Ltd. was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.