Contrasting Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) and GSV (OTCMKTS:GSVI)

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

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Murphy Oil	$3.02 billion	1.23	$407.17 million	$2.69	9.44
GSV	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Murphy Oil has higher revenue and earnings than GSV.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Murphy Oil	13.44%	7.66%	4.28%
GSV	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

78.3% of Murphy Oil shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.9% of Murphy Oil shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 28.7% of GSV shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Murphy Oil	1	9	4	0	2.21
GSV	0	0	0	0	0.00

Murphy Oil presently has a consensus target price of $36.31, suggesting a potential upside of 42.95%. Given Murphy Oil’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Murphy Oil is more favorable than GSV.

Volatility and Risk

Murphy Oil has a beta of 2.18, indicating that its share price is 118% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GSV has a beta of -164.03, indicating that its share price is 16,503% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Murphy Oil beats GSV on 9 of the 10 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 GSV

GSV, Inc. is an oil and gas exploration company. It operates oil and gas wells in Louisiana; and oil and gas prospects in Texas. The company was founded in 1994 and is based in Westport, Connecticut.