Enerplus (ERF) Competitors

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) and Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, community ranking, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, media sentiment and valuation.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in MRO or ERF?

Marathon Oil received 529 more outperform votes than Enerplus when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.92% of users gave Marathon Oil an outperform vote while only 61.61% of users gave Enerplus an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Marathon Oil	Outperform Votes 1025 65.92%	Underperform Votes 530 34.08%
Enerplus	Outperform Votes 496 61.61%	Underperform Votes 309 38.39%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in MRO or ERF?

77.2% of Marathon Oil shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.4% of Enerplus shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Marathon Oil shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Enerplus shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, MRO or ERF?

Marathon Oil has a beta of 2.22, indicating that its share price is 122% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Enerplus has a beta of 1.97, indicating that its share price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is MRO or ERF more profitable?

Enerplus has a net margin of 24.09% compared to Enerplus' net margin of 21.83%. Marathon Oil's return on equity of 33.88% beat Enerplus' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marathon Oil	21.83%	13.24%	7.51%
Enerplus	24.09%	33.88%	19.89%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, MRO or ERF?

Marathon Oil has higher revenue and earnings than Enerplus. Enerplus is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Marathon Oil, 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
Marathon Oil	$6.70B	2.44	$1.55B	$2.42	11.97
Enerplus	$1.69B	2.42	$456.08M	$1.80	11.16

Does the media favor MRO or ERF?

In the previous week, Marathon Oil had 27 more articles in the media than Enerplus. MarketBeat recorded 36 mentions for Marathon Oil and 9 mentions for Enerplus. Enerplus' average media sentiment score of 0.75 beat Marathon Oil's score of 0.41 indicating that Marathon Oil is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Marathon Oil	19 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Enerplus	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts rate MRO or ERF?

Marathon Oil presently has a consensus price target of $32.81, suggesting a potential upside of 13.28%. Enerplus has a consensus price target of $21.87, suggesting a potential upside of 8.86%. Given Enerplus' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Marathon Oil is more favorable than Enerplus.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marathon Oil	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75
Enerplus	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is MRO or ERF a better dividend stock?

Marathon Oil pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Enerplus pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Marathon Oil pays out 18.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Enerplus pays out 14.4% 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. Marathon Oil has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Enerplus has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Marathon Oil is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Marathon Oil beats Enerplus on 17 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.