Critical Contrast: Mitcham Industries (NASDAQ:MIND) vs. NCS Multistage Holdings (NCSM)

Mitcham Industries (NASDAQ: MIND) and NCS Multistage Holdings (NASDAQ:NCSM) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, profitabiliy, institutional ownership and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Mitcham Industries and NCS Multistage Holdings, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mitcham Industries	0	0	0	0	N/A
NCS Multistage Holdings	0	1	7	0	2.88

NCS Multistage Holdings has a consensus target price of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.76%. Given NCS Multistage Holdings’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe NCS Multistage Holdings is more favorable than Mitcham Industries.

Profitability

This table compares Mitcham Industries and NCS Multistage Holdings’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mitcham Industries	-61.58%	-36.70%	-29.47%
NCS Multistage Holdings	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

68.8% of Mitcham Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.2% of NCS Multistage Holdings shares are held by institutional investors. 9.7% of Mitcham Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mitcham Industries and NCS Multistage Holdings’ top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mitcham Industries	$47.70 million	1.00	-$24.80 million	($2.49)	-1.59
NCS Multistage Holdings	$134.01 million	6.79	$22.44 million	N/A	N/A

NCS Multistage Holdings has higher revenue and earnings than Mitcham Industries.

Summary

NCS Multistage Holdings beats Mitcham Industries on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mitcham Industries

Mitcham Industries, Inc. is a provider of equipment to the geophysical, oceanographic and hydrographic industries. The Company operates through two segments. The Equipment Leasing segment is primarily engaged in the leasing of seismic equipment to companies in the oil and gas industry across the world. The Equipment Manufacturing and Sales segment is engaged in the design, production and sale of marine seismic equipment, and oceanographic and hydrographic equipment. Its leasing business includes Mitcham Canada ULC, Seismic Asia Pacific Pty Ltd., Mitcham Seismic Eurasia LLC, Mitcham Europe Ltd. and Mitcham Marine Leasing Pte. Ltd. The Equipment Manufacturing and Sales Segment includes its Seamap International Holdings Pte, Ltd. (Seamap) business and Klein Marine Systems, Inc. (Klein). Seamap designs, manufactures and sells a range of products for the seismic, hydrographic and offshore industries. Klein develops and manufactures high performance side scan sonar systems.

About NCS Multistage Holdings

NCS Multistage Holdings, Inc. is a provider of engineered products and support services for oil and natural gas well completions and field development strategies. The Company’s products and services include Multistage Unlimited, casing-installed sliding sleeves, downhole frac isolation assembly, AirLock casing buoyancy system and liner hanger systems. The Company provides products and services primarily to exploration and production (E&P) companies for use in onshore wells, predominantly wells that have been drilled with horizontal laterals in unconventional oil and natural gas formations. The Company’s products and services are utilized in oil and natural gas basins throughout North America and in selected international markets, including Argentina, China and Russia.