Murphy Oil (MUR) Competitors

APA (NASDAQ:APA) and Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) are both mid-cap energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.

Do analysts rate APA or MUR?

APA presently has a consensus price target of $23.83, indicating a potential upside of 4.35%. Murphy Oil has a consensus price target of $29.69, indicating a potential upside of 14.91%. Given Murphy Oil's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Murphy Oil is more favorable than APA.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
APA	3 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Murphy Oil	2 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.93

Does the media refer more to APA or MUR?

In the previous week, APA had 11 more articles in the media than Murphy Oil. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for APA and 12 mentions for Murphy Oil. Murphy Oil's average media sentiment score of 1.14 beat APA's score of 0.80 indicating that Murphy Oil is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
APA	9 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Murphy Oil	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, APA or MUR?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
APA	$9.74B	0.84	$804M	$2.99	7.64
Murphy Oil	$2.78B	1.33	$407.17M	$1.93	13.39

Is APA or MUR more profitable?

APA has a net margin of 10.53% compared to Murphy Oil's net margin of 10.20%. APA's return on equity of 20.98% beat Murphy Oil's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
APA	10.53%	20.98%	7.21%
Murphy Oil	10.20%	5.25%	2.88%

Which has more risk & volatility, APA or MUR?

APA has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Murphy Oil has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in APA or MUR?

83.0% of APA shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.3% of Murphy Oil shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of APA shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Murphy Oil shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is APA or MUR a better dividend stock?

APA pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Murphy Oil pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. APA pays out 33.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Murphy Oil pays out 67.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Murphy Oil has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Murphy Oil is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

APA beats Murphy Oil on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.