GAP (NYSE:GAP) & Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) Head-To-Head Survey

GAP (NYSE:GAP) and Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, valuation and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

58.8% of GAP shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.8% of Murphy USA shares are held by institutional investors. 31.0% of GAP shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.0% of Murphy USA shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

GAP has a beta of 2.12, meaning that its share price is 112% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Murphy USA has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

GAP pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Murphy USA pays an annual dividend of $2.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. GAP pays out 20.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Murphy USA pays out 8.1% 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. GAP has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Murphy USA has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for GAP and Murphy USA, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GAP	1	12	6	2	2.43
Murphy USA	0	5	6	0	2.55

GAP currently has a consensus price target of $27.07, indicating a potential upside of 25.68%. Murphy USA has a consensus price target of $606.33, indicating a potential upside of 16.57%. Given GAP’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe GAP is more favorable than Murphy USA.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares GAP and Murphy USA”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GAP	$15.33 billion	0.49	$816.00 million	$3.35	6.43
Murphy USA	$19.38 billion	0.49	$470.60 million	$35.67	14.58

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

Profitability

This table compares GAP and Murphy USA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GAP	8.14%	19.72%	5.94%
Murphy USA	2.85%	92.81%	13.36%

Summary

Murphy USA beats GAP on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About GAP

Gap, Inc. operates as a global apparel retail company, which offers clothing, apparel, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, and children. The firm operates through the following segments: Gap Global, Old Navy Global, Banana Republic Global, Athleta, and Other. The Gap Global segment includes apparel and accessories for men and women under the Gap brand, along with the GapKids, BabyGap, GapMaternity, GapBody, and GapFit collections. The Old Navy Global segment offers clothing and accessories for adults and children. The Banana Republic Global segment provides clothing, eyewear, jewelry, shoes, handbags, and fragrances. The Athleta segment offers fitness apparel for women. The company founded by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher in July 1969 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

About Murphy USA

Murphy USA Inc. engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States. Murphy USA Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas.