Unitil (UTL) Competitors

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) and Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and media sentiment.

Is UTL or BKH a better dividend stock?

Unitil pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Black Hills pays an annual dividend of $2.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Unitil pays out 61.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Black Hills pays out 68.0% 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. Unitil has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years and Black Hills has increased its dividend for 55 consecutive years. Black Hills is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, UTL or BKH?

Black Hills has higher revenue and earnings than Unitil. Black Hills is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Unitil, 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
Unitil	$493.80M	1.73	$47.10M	$2.91	16.59
Black Hills	$2.13B	2.11	$273.10M	$3.97	15.55

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in UTL or BKH?

76.8% of Unitil shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of Black Hills shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Unitil shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Black Hills shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer UTL or BKH?

Unitil currently has a consensus price target of $55.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.90%. Black Hills has a consensus price target of $66.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.91%. Given Unitil's higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Unitil is more favorable than Black Hills.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unitil	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Black Hills	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Does the media refer more to UTL or BKH?

In the previous week, Black Hills had 1 more articles in the media than Unitil. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Black Hills and 5 mentions for Unitil. Black Hills' average media sentiment score of 0.67 beat Unitil's score of 0.48 indicating that Black Hills is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Unitil	0 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Black Hills	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, UTL or BKH?

Unitil has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Black Hills has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is UTL or BKH more profitable?

Black Hills has a net margin of 12.68% compared to Unitil's net margin of 9.54%. Unitil's return on equity of 9.46% beat Black Hills' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unitil	9.54%	9.46%	2.69%
Black Hills	12.68%	7.81%	2.85%

Summary

Black Hills beats Unitil on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.