Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA) & Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Head-To-Head Survey

Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA) and Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

Coterra Energy has a beta of 0.22, indicating that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Murphy Oil has a beta of 2.22, indicating that its share price is 122% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

87.9% of Coterra Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.3% of Murphy Oil shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of Coterra Energy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of Murphy Oil shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Coterra Energy	23.34%	10.75%	6.81%
Murphy Oil	16.40%	11.75%	6.51%

Dividends

Coterra Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Murphy Oil pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Coterra Energy pays out 48.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Murphy Oil pays out 33.4% 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. Coterra Energy has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Murphy Oil has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Coterra Energy and Murphy Oil, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Coterra Energy	0	2	13	0	2.87
Murphy Oil	0	5	6	0	2.55

Coterra Energy presently has a consensus target price of $32.73, suggesting a potential upside of 15.50%. Murphy Oil has a consensus target price of $50.64, suggesting a potential upside of 13.84%. Given Coterra Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Coterra Energy is more favorable than Murphy Oil.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Coterra Energy and Murphy Oil’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Coterra Energy	$5.91 billion	3.60	$1.63 billion	$1.73	16.38
Murphy Oil	$3.46 billion	1.96	$661.56 million	$3.59	12.39

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

Summary

Coterra Energy beats Murphy Oil on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Coterra Energy

Coterra Energy Inc., an independent oil and gas company, engages in the development, exploration, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company's properties include the Marcellus Shale with approximately 186,000 net acres in the dry gas window of the play located in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania; Permian Basin properties with approximately 296,000 net acres located in west Texas and southeast New Mexico; and Anadarko Basin properties with approximately 182,000 net acres located in Oklahoma. It also operates natural gas and saltwater gathering and disposal systems in Texas. The company sells its natural gas to industrial customers, local distribution companies, oil and gas marketers, major energy companies, pipeline companies, and power generation facilities. Coterra Energy Inc. was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Houston, 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.