Critical Comparison: TETRA Technologies (NYSE:TTI) vs. MV Oil Trust (NYSE:MVO)

TETRA Technologies (NYSE:TTI) and MV Oil Trust (NYSE:MVO) 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 profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

TETRA Technologies has a beta of 2.04, suggesting that its share price is 104% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MV Oil Trust has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares TETRA Technologies and MV Oil Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TETRA Technologies	$626.26 million	0.85	$25.78 million	$0.02	202.10
MV Oil Trust	$18.07 million	5.90	$16.79 million	$1.59	5.83

TETRA Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than MV Oil Trust. MV Oil Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than TETRA Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares TETRA Technologies and MV Oil Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TETRA Technologies	0.27%	14.53%	4.44%
MV Oil Trust	95.53%	N/A	378.11%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

70.2% of TETRA Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.5% of MV Oil Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 5.8% of TETRA Technologies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for TETRA Technologies and MV Oil Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TETRA Technologies	0	0	2	1	3.33
MV Oil Trust	0	0	0	0	0.00

TETRA Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $7.00, suggesting a potential upside of 73.27%. Given TETRA Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe TETRA Technologies is more favorable than MV Oil Trust.

Summary

TETRA Technologies beats MV Oil Trust on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TETRA Technologies

TETRA Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy services and solutions company. It operates through two segments, Completion Fluids & Products Division and Water & Flowback Services. The Completion Fluids & Products segment manufactures and markets clear brine fluids, additives, and associated products and services to the oil and gas industry for use in well drilling, completion, and workover operations in the United States, as well as in Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. This segment also markets liquid and dry calcium chloride products; and TETRA PureFlow ultra-pure zinc bromide to battery technology companies. The Water & Flowback Services segment provides water management services for onshore oil and gas operators. This segment also offers frac flowback, production well testing, and other associated services in oil and gas producing regions in the United States, as well as in various basins in Latin America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. TETRA Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.

About MV Oil Trust

MV Oil Trust acquires and holds term net profits interests in the oil and natural gas properties of MV Partners, LLC. Its properties wells located in the Mid-Continent region in the states of Kansas and Colorado. MV Oil Trust was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Houston, Texas.