Murphy USA (MUSA) Competitors

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) and Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) are related mid-cap companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and risk.

Is AROC or MUSA more profitable?

Archrock has a net margin of 17.17% compared to Murphy USA's net margin of 2.52%. Murphy USA's return on equity of 64.63% beat Archrock's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Archrock	17.17%	18.74%	6.28%
Murphy USA	2.52%	64.63%	10.86%

Which has more risk and volatility, AROC or MUSA?

Archrock has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Murphy USA has a beta of 0.44, meaning that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AROC or MUSA a better dividend stock?

Archrock pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Murphy USA pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Archrock pays out 63.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Murphy USA pays out 8.8% 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. Archrock has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Murphy USA has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in AROC or MUSA?

95.5% of Archrock shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.8% of Murphy USA shares are held by institutional investors. 2.6% of Archrock shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.1% of Murphy USA shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better earnings and valuation, AROC or MUSA?

Murphy USA has higher revenue and earnings than Archrock. Murphy USA is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Archrock, 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
Archrock	$1.16B	3.66	$172.23M	$1.32	18.25
Murphy USA	$20.24B	0.38	$502.50M	$24.15	16.37

Do analysts recommend AROC or MUSA?

Archrock currently has a consensus target price of $30.00, indicating a potential upside of 24.51%. Murphy USA has a consensus target price of $476.29, indicating a potential upside of 20.46%. Given Archrock's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Archrock is more favorable than Murphy USA.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Archrock	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86
Murphy USA	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the media refer more to AROC or MUSA?

In the previous week, Archrock had 1 more articles in the media than Murphy USA. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Archrock and 7 mentions for Murphy USA. Archrock's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat Murphy USA's score of 1.06 indicating that Archrock is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Archrock	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Murphy USA	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Archrock beats Murphy USA on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.