NFG vs. NJR, NWN, ATO, OGS, SR, POR, CIG, IDA, SWX, and ELP
Should you be buying National Fuel Gas stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of National Fuel Gas include New Jersey Resources (NJR), Northwest Natural (NWN), Atmos Energy (ATO), ONE Gas (OGS), Spire (SR), Portland General Electric (POR), CEMIG (CIG), IDACORP (IDA), Southwest Gas (SWX), and Companhia Paranaense de Energia - COPEL (ELP). These companies are all part of the "utilities" sector.
National Fuel Gas vs.
New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) and National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, community ranking, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, media sentiment, risk, dividends and earnings.
In the previous week, New Jersey Resources had 5 more articles in the media than National Fuel Gas. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for New Jersey Resources and 6 mentions for National Fuel Gas. New Jersey Resources' average media sentiment score of 1.20 beat National Fuel Gas' score of 0.52 indicating that New Jersey Resources is being referred to more favorably in the media.
New Jersey Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. National Fuel Gas pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. New Jersey Resources pays out 51.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. National Fuel Gas pays out 30.4% 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. New Jersey Resources has raised its dividend for 27 consecutive years and National Fuel Gas has raised its dividend for 52 consecutive years. National Fuel Gas is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
National Fuel Gas has lower revenue, but higher earnings than New Jersey Resources. National Fuel Gas is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than New Jersey Resources, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
New Jersey Resources has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Fuel Gas has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.
National Fuel Gas has a net margin of 24.93% compared to New Jersey Resources' net margin of 10.94%. National Fuel Gas' return on equity of 23.69% beat New Jersey Resources' return on equity.
New Jersey Resources presently has a consensus target price of $48.50, suggesting a potential downside of 3.69%. National Fuel Gas has a consensus target price of $65.50, suggesting a potential upside of 25.07%. Given National Fuel Gas' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe National Fuel Gas is more favorable than New Jersey Resources.
74.1% of New Jersey Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.3% of National Fuel Gas shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of New Jersey Resources 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, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
National Fuel Gas received 123 more outperform votes than New Jersey Resources when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.37% of users gave National Fuel Gas an outperform vote while only 58.15% of users gave New Jersey Resources an outperform vote.
Summary
National Fuel Gas beats New Jersey Resources on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding NFG and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
National Fuel Gas Competitors List
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