Critical Analysis: Thai Oil Public (OTCMKTS:TOIPF) versus Star Group (NYSE:SGU)

Star Group (NYSE:SGU) and Thai Oil Public (OTCMKTS:TOIPF) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Star Group and Thai Oil Public, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Star Group	0	0	0	0	N/A
Thai Oil Public	0	0	0	0	N/A

Profitability

This table compares Star Group and Thai Oil Public’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Star Group	1.72%	11.07%	3.41%
Thai Oil Public	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Star Group pays an annual dividend of $0.65 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.2%. Thai Oil Public pays an annual dividend of $2.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 127.7%. Star Group pays out 125.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Thai Oil Public pays out 115.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Star Group has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Thai Oil Public is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

40.4% of Star Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.3% of Thai Oil Public shares are held by institutional investors. 20.4% of Star Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Star Group and Thai Oil Public’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Star Group	$1.95 billion	0.19	$31.94 million	$0.52	20.08
Thai Oil Public	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.74	0.90

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

Summary

Star Group beats Thai Oil Public on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Star Group

Star Group, L.P., together with its subsidiaries, provides home heating oil and propane products and services to residential and commercial customers in the United States. It offers gasoline and diesel fuel; and installs, maintain, and repairs heating and air conditioning equipment. As of September 30, 2023, the company served approximately 402,200 full service residential and commercial home heating oil and propane customers and 52,400 customers on a delivery only basis. It also sells gasoline and diesel fuel to approximately 26,600 customers. The company was formerly known as Star Gas Partners, L.P. and changed its name to Star Group, L.P. in October 2017. Star Group, L.P. was incorporated in 1995 and is based in Stamford, Connecticut.

About Thai Oil Public

Thai Oil Public Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the oil refining, petrochemicals, lube base oil, and other businesses in Thailand and internationally. It operates through Oil Refinery, Lube Base Oil Refinery, Aromatics and LAB, Power Generation, Solvent, Ethanol, Olefins, and Others segments. The company produces gasoline, diesel/gas oil, jet fuel, kerosene, fuel oil, and liquefied petroleum gas; and petrochemical products, such as paraxylene, benzene, toluene, and mixed xylenes. It also produces and distributes lube base oil, bitumen/asphalt, and other by-products, as well as special products, such as treated distillate aromatics extract, and slack wax; and hydrocarbon and chemical solvents, and other chemicals. In addition, the company operates natural gas-fired combined-cycle co-generation power plants that generate and sell electricity, steam, and utilities to companies and industrial users, as well as invests in other power generating companies and related business. Further, it is involved in the production of ethanol; and manufacture and sale of linear alkyl benzene for use in the production of detergents and cleaning products; and provision of human resource management services. The company was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand.