UIL (UTL) Competitors

UIL (LON:UTL) and Ashtead Technology (LON:AT) are both small-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and dividends.

Is UTL or AT more profitable?

UIL has a net margin of 156.15% compared to Ashtead Technology's net margin of 17.37%. Ashtead Technology's return on equity of 23.56% beat UIL's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
UIL	156.15%	-16.21%	-3.94%
Ashtead Technology	17.37%	23.56%	13.14%

Is UTL or AT a better dividend stock?

UIL pays an annual dividend of GBX 8 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.7%. Ashtead Technology pays an annual dividend of GBX 1 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. UIL pays out -26.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ashtead Technology pays out 3.2% 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. UIL is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts prefer UTL or AT?

Ashtead Technology has a consensus price target of GBX 830, suggesting a potential upside of 94.38%. Given Ashtead Technology's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ashtead Technology is more favorable than UIL.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
UIL	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Ashtead Technology	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of UTL or AT?

75.9% of Ashtead Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. 78.0% of UIL shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Ashtead Technology shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, UTL or AT?

UIL has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ashtead Technology has a beta of 0.28, indicating that its share price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, UTL or AT?

Ashtead Technology has higher revenue and earnings than UIL. UIL is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ashtead Technology, 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
UIL	-£16.90M	-6.21	-£26.39M	-£29.84	-3.98
Ashtead Technology	£139.68M	2.42	£24.26M	£30.98	13.79

Does the media refer more to UTL or AT?

In the previous week, UIL had 3 more articles in the media than Ashtead Technology. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for UIL and 1 mentions for Ashtead Technology. Ashtead Technology's average media sentiment score of 0.18 beat UIL's score of 0.07 indicating that Ashtead Technology is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
UIL	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Ashtead Technology	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

Ashtead Technology beats UIL on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.