ProFrac (NASDAQ:ACDC – Get Rating) and Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT – Get Rating) are both mid-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability and risk.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for ProFrac and Liberty Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.
Get ProFrac alerts:| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| ProFrac | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Liberty Energy | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2.88 |
ProFrac currently has a consensus price target of $33.75, indicating a potential upside of 35.38%. Liberty Energy has a consensus price target of $21.05, indicating a potential upside of 26.86%. Given ProFrac's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ProFrac is more favorable than Liberty Energy.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares ProFrac and Liberty Energy's top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| ProFrac | $768.35 million | 4.62 | -$42.42 million | N/A | N/A |
| Liberty Energy | $2.47 billion | 1.23 | -$179.24 million | $0.99 | 16.76 |
ProFrac has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Liberty Energy.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
23.9% of ProFrac shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.3% of Liberty Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of Liberty Energy shares are owned 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.
Profitability
This table compares ProFrac and Liberty Energy's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| ProFrac | 3.59% | -26.10% | 7.93% |
| Liberty Energy | 5.30% | 14.88% | 8.51% |
Summary
Liberty Energy beats ProFrac on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.
About ProFrac
(Get Rating)
ProFrac Holding Corp., a vertically integrated and energy services company, provides hydraulic fracturing, completion, and other products and services to upstream oil and gas companies engaged in the exploration and production of North American unconventional oil and natural gas resources. It operates through three segments: Stimulation Services, Manufacturing, and Proppant Production. The company also manufactures and sells high horsepower pumps, valves, piping, swivels, large-bore manifold systems, seats, and fluid ends. ProFrac Holding Corp. was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Willow Park, Texas.
About Liberty Energy
(Get Rating)
Liberty Energy Inc. provides hydraulic fracturing and wireline services, and related goods to onshore oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in North America. It also offers hydraulic fracturing pressure pumping services, including pressure pumping and pumpdown perforating services, as well wireline services, proppant delivery solutions, data analytics, related goods and technologies. In addition, the company owns operates two sand mines in the Permian Basin. As of December 31, 2021, it had a total of approximately 30 active frac fleets. The company offers its services primarily in the Permian Basin, the Eagle Ford Shale, the Denver-Julesburg Basin, the Williston Basin, and the Powder River Basin. The company was formerly known as Liberty Oilfield Services Inc. and changed its name to Liberty Energy Inc. in April 2022. Liberty Energy Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
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