National Fuel Gas (NFG) Competitors

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) and National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, media sentiment, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and community ranking.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of ATO or NFG?

90.2% of Atmos Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.0% of National Fuel Gas shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Atmos Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of National Fuel Gas shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, ATO or NFG?

Atmos Energy has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Fuel Gas has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate ATO or NFG?

Atmos Energy presently has a consensus price target of $156.35, suggesting a potential upside of 0.76%. National Fuel Gas has a consensus price target of $74.67, suggesting a potential downside of 7.32%. Given Atmos Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Atmos Energy is more favorable than National Fuel Gas.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atmos Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64
National Fuel Gas	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is ATO or NFG more profitable?

Atmos Energy has a net margin of 25.90% compared to National Fuel Gas' net margin of -0.53%. National Fuel Gas' return on equity of 15.96% beat Atmos Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atmos Energy	25.90%	8.89%	4.31%
National Fuel Gas	-0.53%	15.96%	5.68%

Does the media favor ATO or NFG?

In the previous week, Atmos Energy had 14 more articles in the media than National Fuel Gas. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Atmos Energy and 7 mentions for National Fuel Gas. National Fuel Gas' average media sentiment score of 1.57 beat Atmos Energy's score of 1.34 indicating that National Fuel Gas is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Atmos Energy	17 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
National Fuel Gas	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is ATO or NFG a better dividend stock?

Atmos Energy pays an annual dividend of $3.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. National Fuel Gas pays an annual dividend of $2.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Atmos Energy pays out 48.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. National Fuel Gas pays out 479.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Atmos Energy has increased its dividend for 41 consecutive years and National Fuel Gas has increased its dividend for 55 consecutive years. National Fuel Gas is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ATO or NFG?

Atmos Energy received 38 more outperform votes than National Fuel Gas when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 64.47% of users gave National Fuel Gas an outperform vote while only 63.71% of users gave Atmos Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Atmos Energy	Outperform Votes 488 63.71%	Underperform Votes 278 36.29%
National Fuel Gas	Outperform Votes 450 64.47%	Underperform Votes 248 35.53%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, ATO or NFG?

Atmos Energy has higher revenue and earnings than National Fuel Gas. Atmos Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than National Fuel Gas, 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
Atmos Energy	$4.49B	5.49	$1.04B	$7.20	21.55
National Fuel Gas	$2.07B	3.52	$77.51M	$0.43	187.36

Summary

Atmos Energy beats National Fuel Gas on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.