Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) and Granite Ridge Resources (NYSE:GRNT) Critical Contrast

Granite Ridge Resources (NYSE:GRNT) and Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

Granite Ridge Resources has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Murphy Oil has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Granite Ridge Resources pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.6%. Murphy Oil pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Granite Ridge Resources pays out 488.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Murphy Oil pays out 50.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Murphy Oil has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Granite Ridge Resources and Murphy Oil”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Granite Ridge Resources	$413.97 million	1.84	$81.10 million	$0.09	64.61
Murphy Oil	$2.90 billion	1.13	$407.17 million	$2.60	8.86

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

31.6% of Granite Ridge Resources shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.3% of Murphy Oil shares are held by institutional investors. 8.5% of Granite Ridge Resources shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Murphy Oil shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Granite Ridge Resources	12.59%	11.58%	7.89%
Murphy Oil	13.44%	7.66%	4.28%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Granite Ridge Resources and Murphy Oil, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Granite Ridge Resources	0	3	1	0	2.25
Murphy Oil	2	12	1	0	1.93

Granite Ridge Resources presently has a consensus price target of $7.33, indicating a potential upside of 26.11%. Murphy Oil has a consensus price target of $29.23, indicating a potential upside of 26.92%. Given Murphy Oil’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Murphy Oil is more favorable than Granite Ridge Resources.

Summary

Murphy Oil beats Granite Ridge Resources on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Granite Ridge Resources

Granite Ridge Resources, Inc. operates as a non-operated oil and gas exploration and production company. It owns a portfolio of wells and acreage across the Permian and other unconventional basins in the United States. Granite Ridge Resources, Inc. is based in Dallas, Texas.

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.