TransAlta (TA) Competitors

Emera (TSE:EMA) and TransAlta (TSE:TA) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and risk.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in EMA or TA?

28.1% of Emera shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.8% of TransAlta shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Emera shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of TransAlta shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate EMA or TA?

Emera currently has a consensus price target of C$60.58, suggesting a potential downside of 5.40%. TransAlta has a consensus price target of C$18.78, suggesting a potential upside of 11.77%. Given TransAlta's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe TransAlta is more favorable than Emera.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Emera	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.91
TransAlta	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.11

Which has more volatility & risk, EMA or TA?

Emera has a beta of 0.35, indicating that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TransAlta has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is EMA or TA a better dividend stock?

Emera pays an annual dividend of C$2.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. TransAlta pays an annual dividend of C$0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Emera pays out 112.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. TransAlta pays out 34.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, EMA or TA?

Emera has higher revenue and earnings than TransAlta. TransAlta is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Emera, 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
Emera	C$7.21B	2.61	C$757.30M	C$2.58	24.82
TransAlta	C$2.83B	1.78	C$212.05M	C$0.70	23.95

Does the media favor EMA or TA?

In the previous week, Emera had 9 more articles in the media than TransAlta. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Emera and 7 mentions for TransAlta. Emera's average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat TransAlta's score of 0.69 indicating that Emera is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Emera	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
TransAlta	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is EMA or TA more profitable?

Emera has a net margin of 10.51% compared to TransAlta's net margin of 7.49%. TransAlta's return on equity of 12.03% beat Emera's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Emera	10.51%	6.06%	2.30%
TransAlta	7.49%	12.03%	7.07%

Summary

Emera beats TransAlta on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.