Reviewing Helix Energy Solutions Group (NYSE:HLX) and Subsea 7 (OTC:SUBCY)

Helix Energy Solutions Group (NYSE:HLX) and Subsea 7 (OTC:SUBCY) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Helix Energy Solutions Group has a beta of 2.41, indicating that its stock price is 141% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Subsea 7 has a beta of 1.38, indicating that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.3% of Helix Energy Solutions Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Subsea 7 shares are held by institutional investors. 6.4% of Helix Energy Solutions Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Subsea 7 shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Helix Energy Solutions Group and Subsea 7, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Helix Energy Solutions Group	0	1	1	1	3.00
Subsea 7	0	1	0	0	2.00

Helix Energy Solutions Group presently has a consensus target price of $14.50, indicating a potential upside of 115.77%. Given Helix Energy Solutions Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Helix Energy Solutions Group is more favorable than Subsea 7.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Helix Energy Solutions Group and Subsea 7″s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Helix Energy Solutions Group	$1.36 billion	0.75	-$10.84 million	$0.36	18.67
Subsea 7	$5.97 billion	0.65	$15.40 million	$0.67	19.30

Subsea 7 has higher revenue and earnings than Helix Energy Solutions Group. Helix Energy Solutions Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Subsea 7, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Helix Energy Solutions Group and Subsea 7’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Helix Energy Solutions Group	0.54%	4.39%	2.54%
Subsea 7	2.46%	3.72%	1.98%

Summary

Helix Energy Solutions Group beats Subsea 7 on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Helix Energy Solutions Group

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, an offshore energy services company, provides specialty services to the offshore energy industry in Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico, the East Coast of the United States, North Sea, the Asia Pacific, and West Africa regions. The company operates through four segments: Well Intervention, Robotics, Production Facilities, and Shallow Water Abandonment segments. It engages in the installation of flowlines, control umbilicals, and manifold assemblies and risers; trenching and burial of pipelines; installation and tie-in of riser and manifold assembly; commissioning, testing, and inspection activities; and provision of cable and umbilical lay, and connection services. The company also provides well intervention, intervention engineering, and production enhancement services; coiled tubing operations; inspection, repair, and maintenance of production structures, trees, jumpers, risers, pipelines, and subsea equipment; and related support services. In addition, it offers reclamation and remediation services; well plug and abandonment services; pipeline, cable and umbilical abandonment services; and site inspections. Additionally, the company offers oil and natural gas processing facilities and services; and fast response system, as well as site clearance and subsea support services. Further, it provides offshore oilfield decommissioning and reclamation, project management, engineered solutions, intervention, maintenance, repair, heavy lift, and commercial diving services. It serves independent oil and gas producers and suppliers, pipeline transmission companies, renewable energy companies, and offshore engineering and construction firms. The company was formerly known as Cal Dive International, Inc. and changed its name to Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. in March 2006. Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Subsea 7

Subsea 7 S.A. delivers offshore projects and services for the energy industry worldwide. It provides subsea field development products and services, including project management, design and engineering, procurement, fabrication, survey, installation, and commissioning of production facilities on the seabed and the tie-back of its facilities to fixed or floating platforms or to the shore. The company also offers engineering, procurement, commissioning, and installation of subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines; inspection, repair, maintenance, remote intervention, and integrity management of subsea infrastructure services; conventional services comprising fabrication, installation, extension, and refurbishment of fixed and floating platforms and associated pipelines in shallow water; and hook-up services. In addition, it operates heavy lifting operations and heavy transportation services for renewables structures; and installs offshore wind turbine foundations, as well as engages in the decommissioning of redundant offshore structures. Further, the company provides remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and tooling services to support exploration and production activities, as well as engineering and advisory services for customers in the oil and gas, renewables, and utilities industries. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is based in Luxembourg, Luxembourg.