Pennon Group (PNN) Competitors

Severn Trent (LON:SVT) and Pennon Group (LON:PNN) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, media sentiment, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, community ranking and analyst recommendations.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, SVT or PNN?

Severn Trent has higher revenue and earnings than Pennon Group. Pennon Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Severn Trent, 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
Severn Trent	£2.97B	2.76	£177.90M	£59.91	45.75
Pennon Group	£1.55B	1.50	-£16.20M	-£3.56	-140.41

Do analysts rate SVT or PNN?

Severn Trent currently has a consensus target price of GBX 2,600, suggesting a potential downside of 5.14%. Pennon Group has a consensus target price of GBX 745.67, suggesting a potential upside of 49.31%. Given Pennon Group's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Pennon Group is more favorable than Severn Trent.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Severn Trent	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Pennon Group	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Is SVT or PNN a better dividend stock?

Severn Trent pays an annual dividend of GBX 117 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Pennon Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 61 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.2%. Severn Trent pays out 195.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Pennon Group pays out -1,715.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Pennon Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is SVT or PNN more profitable?

Severn Trent has a net margin of 6.00% compared to Pennon Group's net margin of -1.05%. Severn Trent's return on equity of 10.40% beat Pennon Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Severn Trent	6.00%	10.40%	2.35%
Pennon Group	-1.05%	-0.88%	1.81%

Does the media prefer SVT or PNN?

In the previous week, Severn Trent had 2 more articles in the media than Pennon Group. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Severn Trent and 0 mentions for Pennon Group. Severn Trent's average media sentiment score of 0.17 beat Pennon Group's score of 0.00 indicating that Severn Trent is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Severn Trent	Neutral
Pennon Group	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SVT or PNN?

Pennon Group received 90 more outperform votes than Severn Trent when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.76% of users gave Pennon Group an outperform vote while only 52.35% of users gave Severn Trent an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Severn Trent	Outperform Votes 367 52.35%	Underperform Votes 334 47.65%
Pennon Group	Outperform Votes 457 61.76%	Underperform Votes 283 38.24%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in SVT or PNN?

75.4% of Severn Trent shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.4% of Pennon Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Severn Trent shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Pennon Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, SVT or PNN?

Severn Trent has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pennon Group has a beta of 0.29, suggesting that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Severn Trent beats Pennon Group on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.