United Utilities Group (UU) Competitors

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

Do analysts recommend SVT or UU?

Severn Trent currently has a consensus target price of GBX 2,600, suggesting a potential downside of 5.07%. Given Severn Trent's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Severn Trent is more favorable than United Utilities Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Severn Trent	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
United Utilities Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Do institutionals & insiders believe in SVT or UU?

75.4% of Severn Trent shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.3% of United Utilities Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Severn Trent shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of United Utilities Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, SVT or UU?

Severn Trent has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Utilities Group has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, SVT or UU?

Severn Trent has higher revenue and earnings than United Utilities Group. Severn Trent is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United Utilities Group, 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	45.72
United Utilities Group	£1.96B	4.00	£127.46M	£18.53	61.78

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SVT or UU?

United Utilities Group received 92 more outperform votes than Severn Trent when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.69% of users gave United Utilities 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%
United Utilities Group	Outperform Votes 459 61.69%	Underperform Votes 285 38.31%

Is SVT or UU more profitable?

United Utilities Group has a net margin of 6.51% compared to Severn Trent's net margin of 6.00%. Severn Trent's return on equity of 10.40% beat United Utilities Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Severn Trent	6.00%	10.40%	2.35%
United Utilities Group	6.51%	6.35%	2.02%

Is SVT or UU a better dividend stock?

Severn Trent pays an annual dividend of GBX 117 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. United Utilities Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 50 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. 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. United Utilities Group pays out 269.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Does the media refer more to SVT or UU?

In the previous week, Severn Trent had 4 more articles in the media than United Utilities Group. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Severn Trent and 2 mentions for United Utilities Group. Severn Trent's average media sentiment score of 0.83 beat United Utilities Group's score of 0.75 indicating that Severn Trent is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Severn Trent	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
United Utilities Group	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Severn Trent beats United Utilities Group on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.