National Fuel Gas (NFG) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community favor NFG or ATO?

Atmos Energy received 24 more outperform votes than National Fuel Gas when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 65.88% of users gave National Fuel Gas an outperform vote while only 64.13% of users gave Atmos Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
National Fuel Gas	Outperform Votes 448 65.88%	Underperform Votes 232 34.12%
Atmos Energy	Outperform Votes 472 64.13%	Underperform Votes 264 35.87%

Do analysts rate NFG or ATO?

National Fuel Gas currently has a consensus target price of $70.50, indicating a potential upside of 21.78%. Atmos Energy has a consensus target price of $128.67, indicating a potential upside of 1.95%. Given National Fuel Gas' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe National Fuel Gas is more favorable than Atmos Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Fuel Gas	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Atmos Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Which has better earnings and valuation, NFG or ATO?

Atmos Energy has higher revenue and earnings than National Fuel Gas. National Fuel Gas is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Atmos Energy, 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
National Fuel Gas	$2.17B	2.45	$476.87M	$5.04	11.49
Atmos Energy	$4.06B	4.69	$885.86M	$6.67	18.92

Is NFG or ATO more profitable?

Atmos Energy has a net margin of 24.65% compared to National Fuel Gas' net margin of 23.84%. National Fuel Gas' return on equity of 15.06% beat Atmos Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Fuel Gas	23.84%	15.06%	5.54%
Atmos Energy	24.65%	9.01%	4.35%

Do institutionals & insiders believe in NFG or ATO?

74.0% of National Fuel Gas shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.2% of Atmos Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of National Fuel Gas shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Atmos Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is NFG or ATO a better dividend stock?

National Fuel Gas pays an annual dividend of $2.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Atmos Energy pays an annual dividend of $3.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. National Fuel Gas pays out 40.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Atmos Energy pays out 48.3% 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. National Fuel Gas is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more risk and volatility, NFG or ATO?

National Fuel Gas has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atmos Energy has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to NFG or ATO?

In the previous week, Atmos Energy had 6 more articles in the media than National Fuel Gas. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Atmos Energy and 7 mentions for National Fuel Gas. National Fuel Gas' average media sentiment score of 1.00 beat Atmos Energy's score of 0.95 indicating that National Fuel Gas is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
National Fuel Gas	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Atmos Energy	8 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Atmos Energy beats National Fuel Gas on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.