TETRA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: TTI) is an oil and gas services company comprised of three divisions – Fluids, Well Abandonment & Decommissioning (WA&D), and Production Enhancement.

The Company’s Fluids Division manufactures and markets clear brine fluids, additives and other associated products and services to the oil and gas industry for use in well drilling, completion, and workover operations both domestically and in certain regions of Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. The Division also markets certain fluids and dry calcium chloride, manufactured at its production facilities, to a variety of domestic and international markets outside the energy industry.

The Company’s WA&D Division provides a broad array of services required for the abandonment of depleted oil and gas wells and the decommissioning of platforms, pipelines, and other associated equipment. The Division services the onshore U.S. Gulf Coast region and the inland waters and offshore markets of the Gulf of Mexico. The Division is also an oil and gas producer from wells acquired in its well abandonment and decommissioning business and provides electric wireline, engineering, workover, and drilling services.

The Company’s Production Enhancement Division provides production testing services to the Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, the offshore Gulf of Mexico and certain Latin American markets. In addition, it is engaged in the design, fabrication, sale, lease and service of wellhead compression equipment primarily used to enhance production from mature, low pressure natural gas wells located principally in the mid-continent, Rocky Mountain, Texas and Louisiana regions of the United States and western Canada. The Division also provides the technology and services required for the separation and recycling of oily residuals generated from petroleum refining operations.

The Stock's price gained 49.8% over the past 3 months; 96.3% over the past 6 months; and 209.7% over the past 12 months.
 TETRA  is classified as a mid-cap growth company. The Stock is rated to significantly outperform the market over the next six months. The Company was incorporated in 1981. TETRA's corporate headquarters are located at The Woodlands, Texas. The Company's number of employees: 1,668.

Sector: Energy; Industry: Oil Well Services & Equipment; Ticker:TTI;  Exch: NYSE;  05/19/06 Closing Price: $54.78) 

STOCK GRADE (ASG: 46.80)               

BUSINESS & FINANCIAL SUMMARY (Yahoo)
EXPANDED BUSINESS DESCRIPTION (Reuters)
STOCK INFO/RESEARCH (MSN)
OWNERSHIP (MSN)
KEY DEVELOPMENTS (MSN), RECENT NEWS (MSN) & HEADLINES  (Yahoo)
HISTORICAL PRICES (Yahoo) & PRICE CHART (IQChart)
COMPANY'S WEB SITE
STOCK'S CORE STRENGTHS (SEE: Table Below)   
 

Management's Effectiveness (12 Mo.) . . . Return on Equity:     18.54%
Profitability (12 Mo.) . . . Profit Margin:       9.23%
Stock's Growth Record (12 Mo.) . . . Revenue:     50.35%
. . . EPS:    109.52%
. . . Price:   220.98%
. . . Dividend:        NA
PE & EPS (12 Mo.) . . . Price/Earnings:      39.13
. . . Earnings/Share:        1.44
Price / Share (Closing) . . . 05/19/2006:    $54.78


TETRA TECHNOLOGIES, INC. - EVALUATION

TETRA's
stock emerged as an  ACE'S selection based on the evaluation results of the criteria listed below. The evaluation results are encapsulated as one value in ASG (short for ACE'S Stock Grade). ASG is proprietary variable that was devised by ACE'S to measure the quality of a stock for investment. TETRA's ASG value of 45.80 is GOOD.

A. MANAGEMENTS EFFECTIVENESS - AVERAGE 
B. PRODUCTS & SERVICES, SET OF - EXCELLENT 
C. SALES - AVERAGE
 
D. CASH FLOW, FREE -
AVERAGE
E. PROFITABILITY -
  GOOD 
F. PRICE-EARNINGS RATIO (P/E) -  POOR
G. FINANCIAL HEALTH -  POOR  
H. MARKET CAPITALIZATION -
GOOD
I. TRADED VOLUME -
 GOOD 
J. PRICE GROWTH - EXCELLENT
 

A. MANAGEMENTS EFFECTIVENESS - AVERAGE    

How well a company performs generally - in its business operations, controlling costs,  the success of its products and services in the market place, profitability, and the like - depends on its management's efficiency. Return on Equity ( ROE) is used by ACE'S as a general indication of the company's efficiency.

TETRA's ROE (ttm) of 18.3% is lower (by 4.00%) than the Industry's ROE of 22.3%; and higher (by 2.00%) than the S&P 500's ROE of 16.3%.
(Ref.: MSN Finance\Key Ratios).

  ACE'S gives a preferential rating to a company that has a comparable or relatively higher ROE than the Industry. ACE'S rating of TETRA's Management's Effectiveness: AVERAGE.

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 B. PRODUCTS & SERVICES, SET OF - EXCELLENT     

Products and services are the elements that enables a company to have a presence in its target market and generate sales. The set of products and services that a company has and how successful those products and services performs in the target market are very important factors in considering a company's stock for investment.

TETRA's line-up of products and services:

  CHEMICALS:   

Calcium chloride and bromides.

   DECOMMISSIONING & HEAVY LIFT SERVICES 

The decommissioning of offshore pipelines and platforms.

  DIVING & MARINE SERVICES

A full complement of commercial diving services and a fleet of marine vessels.

  FLUIDS & FILTRATION

The use of clear brine fluids for well completions, workovers, and drilling operations.

  ELECTRIC WIRELINE

A full array of cased well completion and evaluation services along with open and cased hole pipe recovery.

 ABANDONMENT & DECOMMISSIONING SERVICES

The abandonment and decommissioning of a field and its associated wells. Maritech Resources, Inc., TETRA's exploitation and production subsidiary, evaluates mature oil and gas properties to determine both the economic life remaining and the future abandonment and decommissioning liabilities.

  PROCESS SERVICES

Provides oil recovery, oily residuals processing and recycling services to the worldwide hydrocarbon extraction, processing and transport industries.

  PRODUCTION TESTING SERVICES

Provides a full range of onshore and offshore production testing, cleanup, laboratory and related services.

  RIG SERVICES

Provides a fleet of rigs, specialized ancillary equipment, and trained professionals capable of supporting customers' inland water and offshore drilling, completion, workover, and plug and abandonment (P&A) operations

  WELL ABANDONMENT SERVICES

A single-source provider of well abandonment services in North America,be it in the Gulf Coast inland waters, onshore, offshore or subsea.

  WELLHEAD COMPRESSION SERVICES

Through Compressco, Inc., a TETRA company, offers production enhancement services with the GasJack® wellhead compression unit. The GasJack® can increase the daily production and total recoverable reserves allowing the customer to substantially increase both cash flows and the net present value of their producing reserves of natural oil and gas.
 

  ACE'S  gives a preferential rating to a company who  have a variety of product and services  that have present and continued  utility in a broad and dynamic  market. An estimation of the latter products' utility, distinctive qualities and competitiveness would be subjective assessments. However, there is one objective data that indicates how well the subjective elements of TETRA's products and services are assessed and used by its target market - the company's sales.

 ACE'S rating of TETRA's line-up of Products & Services:  EXCELLENT

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C. SALES -  AVERAGE 

Sales is an important indicator on how a company's products and services performs in its target market. Generally, a high sales figure is preferred than a lower figure. Also, a steady and appreciable growth in a company's total sales from one year to the next is a key indicator on how a company is able (or unable) to sustain and improve the utility of its products and services in the marketplace.

TETRA's annual sales was $303.4M in 12/2001, $242.6M in 12/2002, $318.7M in 12/2003, $353.2M in 12/2004 and $531.0M in 12/2005. Relative to 12/2001, the Company's sales increased -20.03% in 2002, 5.04% in2003, 16.41% in 2004 and 75.02% in 2005,
(Ref.: MSN Money\Financials)TETRA's ttm annual sales of $564.8M was 65.00% less than the Industry's  sales of $1,613.9M.  TETRA's ttm Sales growth rate of 28.50% was 4.1% points higher than the Industry's rate of 24.40%.   (Ref.: MSN Money\Research).

  ACE'S gives a preferential rating to a company that have demonstrated the ability to sustain a high and progressively increasing level of sales  from year-to-year. TETRA's year-to-year annual sales - from 2002 to 2005 - have progressively increased.  In terms of sales volume, the Companies past 12 month sales is 65.0% less than the Industry. In terms of growth rate, TETRA's rate surpasses the Industry by 4.1% points.   ACE'S rating of TETRA's Sales Growth Rate: AVERAGE.

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D. CASH FLOW, FREE -  AVERAGE  

Cash flow is crucial to the operation and survival of companies. A company having ample ready cash ensures that creditors, employees, and others can be paid on time. Cash flow could be considered as a better measure of a business's profitability than earnings, because a company can show positive net earnings and have insufficient cash flow (that is, the company is not able to pay its debts). Cash Flow thus can be used as an indicator of a company's financial strength.

TETRA's cash flow during the past 5 years: $58.1M in 12/2001; $25.0M in 12/2002; $36.4M in 12/2003; $56.4M in 12/2004; and $52.8M in 12/2005.
(Ref.: MSN Money\Financials).

 ACE'S gives a preferential rating to a company that have demonstrated the ability to sustain a positive and appreciable cash flow from year-to-year. TETRA's year-to-year cash flow - from 2001 to 2005 - have been positive and appreciable, averaging $45.74M annually.  ACE'S rating of TETRA's Cash Flow: AVERAGE.

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E. PROFITABILITY -  GOOD  

Making a profit is the ultimate goal of every company. A useful gauge of a company's profitability is its net income (also referred to as "earnings").  Related to a company's outstanding shares of common stocks, the company's total earnings is transformed to "earnings per share" (or "EPS" for short). EPS is a very popular indicator of a company's profitability and a powerful variable that influences the price of a company's stock.

TETRA's annual Net Income, for the past 12 months, of $51.9M is 73.41% less than the Industry's Income of $195.2M). For the past 5 years, TETRA's  annual Net Income are: $23.9M in 12/2001; $8.9M in 12/2002; $21.6M in 12/2003; $17.7M in 12/2004; and $38.0M in 12/2005.  In terms of growth, TETRA's Net Income have grown 241.60% during the past 12 months (vs. the Industry's 111.50% growth rate).
(Refs. MSN Money\Financials\Statements; MSN Money\Wizard)

  ACE'S gives a preferential rating to a company that have demonstrated the ability to sustain a positive, appreciable and increasing net  income..TETRA's year-to-year annual Net Income - from 2001 to 2005 - was on the plus side, averaging $22.02M annually.  In terms of income growth rate, TETRA's 241.6% rate surpasses the Industry by 130.1% points.  ACE'S rating of TETRAs Profitability: GOOD.

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F. PRICE-EARNINGS RATIO (P/E) - POOR   

A stock's Price-Earnings ratio tells us roughly how much investors are willing to pay per dollar of earnings. Price-Earnings is a ratio of a company's current share price compared to its per-share earnings. The P/E ratio is a much better indicator of the value of a stock than the market price alone.

In general, a high P/E means high projected earnings in the future. As such, the P/E ratio could be interpreted as the reflection of the market's optimism concerning a firm's growth prospects. To determine whether a particular P/E is high or low, take into account a company's growth rates; and the P/Es of other companies in the same industry. Historically, the average P/E ratio in the market has been around 15-25.

TETRA has a P/E ratio of 38.74 (ttm) which is 13.64% points higher - or 54.34% greater - than the Industry's P/E of 25.10 (ttm).
(Ref.: Yahoo! Finance\Competitors)

ACE'S gives a preferential rating to a company that has a comparable or relatively lower P/E than the Industry.  ACE'S rating of TETRA's P/E Ratio: POOR.

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G. FINANCIAL HEALTH - POOR

The assumption of debt, i.e., financial leverage, are used by companies to finance its assets. The magnitude of the debt's expense component affects the company's net income.

A company with significantly more debt than equity is considered to be highly leveraged. A popular measure of financial leverage is the "debt/equity ratio". A higher debt/equity ratio generally means that a company has been aggressive in financing its growth with debt. This higher ratio can result in volatile or negative earnings as a result of the additional interest expense. Thus, the Debt/Equity Ratio is popularly used as a measure of a company's financial health.

TETRA's 0.55 Debt/Equity Ratio (latest 12 months) is 48.64% more than the Industry's Ratio of 0.37, and 47.61% less than the S&P 500's Ratio 1.05. .
(Refs.: MSN Money\Ratios)

ACE'S gives a preferential rating to a company that has a comparable or relatively lower debt ratio than the Industry.  ACE'S rating of TETRA's  Debt Ratio: POOR (HIGHER RATIO THAN INDUSTRY AVERAGE).

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H. MARKET CAPITALIZATION -  GOOD  

Market Capitalization (or market cap for short) is a measure of a company's size. The market cap provides a broad gauge of the growth-versus-risk potential of a company. Historically, large caps have experienced slower growth with lower risk; whereas small caps have experienced higher growth potential, but with higher risk.

The market cap of a company is calculated by multiplying the number of its outstanding shares by the shares' current market price. There are presently six classes of Market Cap: Mega Cap, Big/Large Cap, Mid Cap, Small Cap, Micro Cap and Nano Cap. ACE'S assigns an Excellent rating to Small Cap stocks; Good to Mid Caps; Average to Big/Large Caps; and Below Average to Mega Caps.  ACE'S excludes Micro and Nano Caps in its stock picks.

TETRA is classified as a mid cap value  company with a market capitalization of $1,964.58M and with outstanding shares of 34.99M.
(Ref.: Reuters)

 ACE'S gives a preferential rating to small and mid cap companies.  ACE'S rating of TETRA's  Market Cap:  GOOD.

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I. TRADED VOLUME -  GOOD  

A stock's price goes up or down based on the laws of supply and demand. Simply stated, when a stock's price goes up, there must be significant buying demand for the stock. Volume is the actual number of shares traded daily. Traded volume could be used as a gauge of the demand for a stock.

TETRA has an 3-month Average Daily Volume of 560,216 shares; and a 10-day Average Daily Volume of 777,867 shares.  
(Refs.: Yahoo! Finance\Statistics).  ACE'S assigns an Excellent rating for +1,000,000 trading volumes; Good for 500,001-999,999 volumes; Average for 100,000 - 500,000 volumes; and Below Average for -100,000 volumes.

 ACE'S gives a preferential rating to a company that sustains a lively trade volume from week-to-week and month-to-month.  ACE'S rating of TETRA's  Traded Volume: GOOD.

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J. PRICE GROWTH - EXCELLENT  

Price growth  is the 12-month increase in the price of a stock (displayed as a percentage). As of 05/19/06, TETRA had a 3-month growth rate  of 49.8% (vs. the Industry's 10.5% rate), a 6-month rate of 96.3% (vs. the Industry's 17.8% rate), and  a 12-month rate of 209.7% (vs. the Industry's 46.0% rate). 
(Refs.: MSN Money\Research).

ACE'S gives a preferential rating to a company that have demonstrated a solid capacity for high price growth and outperforming other stocks in the Industry.  ACE'S rating of TETRA's  Price Growth: EXCELLENT.

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  Last modified: 10/12/14