Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) versus Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) Financial Survey

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) and Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.3% of Murphy Oil shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.2% of Geopark shares are held by institutional investors. 6.5% of Murphy Oil shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Geopark 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.

Volatility & Risk

Murphy Oil has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Geopark has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Murphy Oil and Geopark, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Murphy Oil	2	12	1	0	1.93
Geopark	1	0	1	0	2.00

Murphy Oil currently has a consensus target price of $28.33, suggesting a potential downside of 1.75%. Given Murphy Oil’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Murphy Oil is more favorable than Geopark.

Profitability

This table compares Murphy Oil and Geopark’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Murphy Oil	10.20%	5.25%	2.88%
Geopark	7.70%	35.65%	6.44%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Murphy Oil and Geopark”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Murphy Oil	$2.75 billion	1.50	$407.17 million	$0.98	29.43
Geopark	$525.94 million	0.78	$96.38 million	$0.65	12.37

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

Dividends

Murphy Oil pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Geopark pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Murphy Oil pays out 132.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Geopark pays out 18.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Murphy Oil has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Geopark has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Murphy Oil is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Murphy Oil beats Geopark on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It explores for and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The company was formerly known as Murphy Corporation and changed its name to Murphy Oil Corporation in 1964. The company was incorporated in 1950 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Geopark

GeoPark Limited operates as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company primarily in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and other Latin American countries. It engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves. The company was formerly known as GeoPark Holdings Limited and changed its name to GeoPark Limited in July 2013. GeoPark Limited was founded in 2002 and is based in Bogotá, Colombia.