Star Group L.P. SGU

Competitive advantage analysis · energy

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
81/100
Strong

About Star Group L.P.

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, maintains, and repairs heating and air conditioning equipment and ancillary services. As of September 30, 2025, the company served approximately 406,400 full-service residential and commercial home heating … Full SGU analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Margins Consistently Above Peers Gross margin at 29.6% (top 6%) and operating margin at 6.4% (top 18%) indicate strong pricing power.
  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.82), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.

Key risks

  • Liquidity Concerns Liquidity is concerning (score 0.12), raising questions about short-term obligations.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Strong
85

Where SGU ranks in Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing

Star Group L.P. ranks #1 of 19 scored companies in Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing by moat score — the top 5%. That makes it the widest moat in the group.

Moat scores for companies ranked near SGU in Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing
# Company Moat score Rating
1 Star Group L.P. SGU 81/100 Strong
2 Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. Comm PARR 74/100 Moderate
3 Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (Ne UGP 67/100 Moderate
4 Delek Logistics Partners, L.P. DKL 62/100 Moderate
5 Sunoco LP SUN 61/100 Moderate
6 CrossAmerica Partners LP CAPL 60/100 Moderate
7 Marathon Petroleum Corporation MPC 58/100 Moderate
8 Cosan S.A. CSAN 57/100 Moderate
9 Phillips 66 PSX 55/100 Moderate

See every Commodities & Mining company ranked by moat score →

How SGU scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 85 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 76 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 81 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 94 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 61 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 88 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding SGU's moat

What is Star Group L.P.'s moat score?

Star Group L.P. (SGU) scores 81 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as strong. It ranks #1 of 19 scored companies in Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing, the top 5%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 18 companies in Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing. Its strongest defense is Capital Efficiency (94/100) and its weakest is Resilience (61/100).

How does Star Group L.P. compare with other Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing companies?

Star Group L.P. ranks #1 of 19 scored companies in Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing by moat score. That is the widest moat in Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing. The companies ranked closest are Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. Comm (PARR) at 74 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 18 companies in Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Star Group L.P. scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Star Group L.P.?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and SGU scores: Pricing Power (85), Cost Advantage (76), Customer Stickiness (81), Capital Efficiency (94), Resilience (61), Scale & Market Position (88). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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