ATCO (ACO.X) Competitors

Canadian Utilities (TSE:CU) and ATCO (TSE:ACO.X) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, community ranking, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Is CU or ACO.X more profitable?

Canadian Utilities has a net margin of 13.41% compared to ATCO's net margin of 8.16%. ATCO's return on equity of 8.54% beat Canadian Utilities' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Canadian Utilities	13.41%	7.21%	2.66%
ATCO	8.16%	8.54%	2.95%

Do analysts rate CU or ACO.X?

Canadian Utilities presently has a consensus price target of C$38.60, suggesting a potential upside of 1.50%. ATCO has a consensus price target of C$52.70, suggesting a potential upside of 2.27%. Given ATCO's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe ATCO is more favorable than Canadian Utilities.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Canadian Utilities	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
ATCO	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Which has higher valuation and earnings, CU or ACO.X?

ATCO has higher revenue and earnings than Canadian Utilities. ATCO is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Canadian Utilities, 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
Canadian Utilities	C$2.81B	2.77	C$376.93M	C$1.85	20.55
ATCO	C$4.71B	1.09	C$385M	C$3.42	15.07

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CU or ACO.X?

Canadian Utilities received 217 more outperform votes than ATCO when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.90% of users gave Canadian Utilities an outperform vote while only 45.22% of users gave ATCO an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Canadian Utilities	Outperform Votes 430 58.90%	Underperform Votes 300 41.10%
ATCO	Outperform Votes 213 45.22%	Underperform Votes 258 54.78%

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of CU or ACO.X?

14.1% of Canadian Utilities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.4% of ATCO shares are owned by institutional investors. 37.6% of Canadian Utilities shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of ATCO shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, CU or ACO.X?

Canadian Utilities has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ATCO has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor CU or ACO.X?

In the previous week, Canadian Utilities had 2 more articles in the media than ATCO. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Canadian Utilities and 3 mentions for ATCO. ATCO's average media sentiment score of 1.79 beat Canadian Utilities' score of 0.27 indicating that ATCO is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Canadian Utilities	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
ATCO	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is CU or ACO.X a better dividend stock?

Canadian Utilities pays an annual dividend of C$1.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. ATCO pays an annual dividend of C$1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Canadian Utilities pays out 97.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. ATCO pays out 57.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

ATCO beats Canadian Utilities on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.