Murphy Oil (MUR) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility & risk, MUR or XOM?

Murphy Oil has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Exxon Mobil has a beta of 0.5, indicating that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer MUR or XOM?

In the previous week, Exxon Mobil had 92 more articles in the media than Murphy Oil. MarketBeat recorded 101 mentions for Exxon Mobil and 9 mentions for Murphy Oil. Exxon Mobil's average media sentiment score of 1.32 beat Murphy Oil's score of 0.80 indicating that Exxon Mobil is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Murphy Oil	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Exxon Mobil	82 Very Positive mention(s)	8 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of MUR or XOM?

78.3% of Murphy Oil shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.8% of Exxon Mobil shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of Murphy Oil shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Exxon Mobil 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.

Do analysts recommend MUR or XOM?

Murphy Oil presently has a consensus price target of $29.08, suggesting a potential upside of 21.48%. Exxon Mobil has a consensus price target of $125.40, suggesting a potential upside of 11.81%. Given Murphy Oil's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Murphy Oil is more favorable than Exxon Mobil.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Murphy Oil	2 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.93
Exxon Mobil	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64

Is MUR or XOM a better dividend stock?

Murphy Oil pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Exxon Mobil pays an annual dividend of $3.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Murphy Oil pays out 50.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Exxon Mobil pays out 52.5% 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 raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Exxon Mobil has raised its dividend for 42 consecutive years. Murphy Oil is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, MUR or XOM?

Exxon Mobil has higher revenue and earnings than Murphy Oil. Murphy Oil is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Exxon Mobil, 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
Murphy Oil	$2.90B	1.18	$407.17M	$2.60	9.21
Exxon Mobil	$349.59B	1.38	$33.68B	$7.54	14.87

Is MUR or XOM more profitable?

Murphy Oil has a net margin of 13.47% compared to Exxon Mobil's net margin of 9.49%. Exxon Mobil's return on equity of 12.06% beat Murphy Oil's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Murphy Oil	13.47%	6.81%	3.75%
Exxon Mobil	9.49%	12.06%	7.21%

Summary

Exxon Mobil beats Murphy Oil on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.