AltaGas (ALA) Competitors

Pembina Pipeline (TSE:PPL) and AltaGas (TSE:ALA) are both large-cap energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, risk and earnings.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in PPL or ALA?

63.9% of Pembina Pipeline shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.3% of AltaGas shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Pembina Pipeline shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of AltaGas shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is PPL or ALA more profitable?

Pembina Pipeline has a net margin of 25.73% compared to AltaGas' net margin of 4.04%. Pembina Pipeline's return on equity of 12.06% beat AltaGas' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pembina Pipeline	25.73%	12.06%	4.31%
AltaGas	4.04%	6.36%	2.69%

Does the media prefer PPL or ALA?

In the previous week, AltaGas had 30 more articles in the media than Pembina Pipeline. MarketBeat recorded 34 mentions for AltaGas and 4 mentions for Pembina Pipeline. AltaGas' average media sentiment score of 0.78 beat Pembina Pipeline's score of -0.30 indicating that AltaGas is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Pembina Pipeline	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
AltaGas	11 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, PPL or ALA?

Pembina Pipeline has higher earnings, but lower revenue than AltaGas. Pembina Pipeline is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AltaGas, 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
Pembina Pipeline	C$7.71B	3.80	C$1.98B	C$3.45	14.72
AltaGas	C$12.70B	0.97	C$513.15M	C$1.73	23.94

Is PPL or ALA a better dividend stock?

Pembina Pipeline pays an annual dividend of C$2.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. AltaGas pays an annual dividend of C$1.19 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Pembina Pipeline pays out 80.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AltaGas pays out 69.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Which has more risk and volatility, PPL or ALA?

Pembina Pipeline has a beta of 1.48, suggesting that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AltaGas has a beta of 1.23, suggesting that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate PPL or ALA?

Pembina Pipeline currently has a consensus target price of C$58.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.33%. AltaGas has a consensus target price of C$44.33, suggesting a potential upside of 7.34%. Given Pembina Pipeline's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Pembina Pipeline is more favorable than AltaGas.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pembina Pipeline	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.70
AltaGas	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Summary

Pembina Pipeline beats AltaGas on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.