Fortis (FTS) Competitors

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) and Fortis (NYSE:FTS) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends and media sentiment.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, AEP or FTS?

American Electric Power has higher revenue and earnings than Fortis. American Electric Power is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fortis, 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
American Electric Power	$19.72B	2.80	$2.97B	$5.19	19.92
Fortis	$8.40B	2.83	$1.23B	$2.37	19.96

Which has more volatility and risk, AEP or FTS?

American Electric Power has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fortis has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AEP or FTS more profitable?

Fortis has a net margin of 14.20% compared to American Electric Power's net margin of 13.73%. American Electric Power's return on equity of 11.68% beat Fortis' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Electric Power	13.73%	11.68%	3.08%
Fortis	14.20%	7.08%	2.34%

Is AEP or FTS a better dividend stock?

American Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Fortis pays an annual dividend of $1.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. American Electric Power pays out 71.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fortis pays out 75.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Electric Power has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Fortis has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in AEP or FTS?

75.2% of American Electric Power shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.8% of Fortis shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Electric Power shares are held 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.

Does the media favor AEP or FTS?

In the previous week, American Electric Power had 13 more articles in the media than Fortis. MarketBeat recorded 28 mentions for American Electric Power and 15 mentions for Fortis. American Electric Power's average media sentiment score of 1.30 beat Fortis' score of 0.53 indicating that American Electric Power is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American Electric Power	22 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Fortis	3 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend AEP or FTS?

American Electric Power presently has a consensus target price of $108.31, indicating a potential upside of 4.74%. Fortis has a consensus target price of $72.00, indicating a potential upside of 52.23%. Given Fortis' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Fortis is more favorable than American Electric Power.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Electric Power	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.31
Fortis	2 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.86

Summary

American Electric Power beats Fortis on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.