NewJersey Resources (NJR) Competitors

NewJersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) and UGI (NYSE:UGI) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts recommend NJR or UGI?

NewJersey Resources currently has a consensus price target of $51.29, suggesting a potential upside of 13.01%. UGI has a consensus price target of $31.33, suggesting a potential downside of 10.88%. Given NewJersey Resources' higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe NewJersey Resources is more favorable than UGI.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NewJersey Resources	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
UGI	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Is NJR or UGI a better dividend stock?

NewJersey Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. UGI pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. NewJersey Resources pays out 43.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. UGI pays out 61.7% 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. NewJersey Resources has raised its dividend for 29 consecutive years and UGI has raised its dividend for 37 consecutive years. UGI is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is NJR or UGI more profitable?

NewJersey Resources has a net margin of 20.03% compared to UGI's net margin of 7.28%. NewJersey Resources' return on equity of 16.95% beat UGI's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NewJersey Resources	20.03%	16.95%	5.48%
UGI	7.28%	16.21%	4.93%

Does the media favor NJR or UGI?

In the previous week, UGI had 13 more articles in the media than NewJersey Resources. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for UGI and 3 mentions for NewJersey Resources. NewJersey Resources' average media sentiment score of 0.86 beat UGI's score of 0.34 indicating that NewJersey Resources is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NewJersey Resources	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
UGI	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has better earnings & valuation, NJR or UGI?

NewJersey Resources has higher earnings, but lower revenue than UGI. NewJersey Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than UGI, 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
NewJersey Resources	$1.80B	2.54	$289.77M	$4.12	11.01
UGI	$7.21B	1.05	$269M	$2.43	14.47

Do insiders & institutionals believe in NJR or UGI?

71.0% of NewJersey Resources shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.3% of UGI shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of NewJersey Resources shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of UGI shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, NJR or UGI?

NewJersey Resources has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UGI has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

NewJersey Resources and UGI tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.