Academy Sports and Outdoors (ASO) Competitors

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) and Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, media sentiment, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and community ranking.

Does the media prefer ASO or MUSA?

In the previous week, Murphy USA had 6 more articles in the media than Academy Sports and Outdoors. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Murphy USA and 21 mentions for Academy Sports and Outdoors. Murphy USA's average media sentiment score of 0.96 beat Academy Sports and Outdoors' score of 0.78 indicating that Murphy USA is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Academy Sports and Outdoors	9 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Murphy USA	14 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate ASO or MUSA?

Academy Sports and Outdoors currently has a consensus price target of $58.63, suggesting a potential upside of 57.38%. Murphy USA has a consensus price target of $539.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.40%. Given Academy Sports and Outdoors' higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Academy Sports and Outdoors is more favorable than Murphy USA.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Academy Sports and Outdoors	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Murphy USA	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is ASO or MUSA a better dividend stock?

Academy Sports and Outdoors pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Murphy USA pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Academy Sports and Outdoors pays out 9.0% 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.

Which has better earnings and valuation, ASO or MUSA?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Academy Sports and Outdoors	$5.93B	0.42	$519.19M	$5.77	6.46
Murphy USA	$20.24B	0.51	$502.50M	$24.20	21.54

Is ASO or MUSA more profitable?

Academy Sports and Outdoors has a net margin of 7.49% compared to Murphy USA's net margin of 2.48%. Murphy USA's return on equity of 61.60% beat Academy Sports and Outdoors' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Academy Sports and Outdoors	7.49%	23.32%	9.29%
Murphy USA	2.48%	61.60%	11.37%

Which has more risk and volatility, ASO or MUSA?

Academy Sports and Outdoors has a beta of 1.26, suggesting that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Murphy USA has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ASO or MUSA?

Murphy USA received 267 more outperform votes than Academy Sports and Outdoors when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.80% of users gave Murphy USA an outperform vote while only 63.69% of users gave Academy Sports and Outdoors an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Academy Sports and Outdoors	Outperform Votes 114 63.69%	Underperform Votes 65 36.31%
Murphy USA	Outperform Votes 381 65.80%	Underperform Votes 198 34.20%

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of ASO or MUSA?

80.8% of Murphy USA shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Academy Sports and Outdoors shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.0% of Murphy USA shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Murphy USA beats Academy Sports and Outdoors on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.