TransAlta (TAC) Competitors

Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP (NYSE:SBS) and TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, community ranking, media sentiment and dividends.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in SBS or TAC?

10.6% of Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.0% of TransAlta shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.1% of TransAlta shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SBS or TAC?

TransAlta received 62 more outperform votes than Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 58.25% of users gave Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP an outperform vote while only 55.49% of users gave TransAlta an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	Outperform Votes 226 58.25%	Underperform Votes 162 41.75%
TransAlta	Outperform Votes 288 55.49%	Underperform Votes 231 44.51%

Do analysts rate SBS or TAC?

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	4.00
TransAlta	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has more volatility and risk, SBS or TAC?

Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TransAlta has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, SBS or TAC?

Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP has higher revenue and earnings than TransAlta. Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than TransAlta, 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
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	$5.12B	2.28	$705.76M	$2.54	6.73
TransAlta	$2.49B	1.23	$514.86M	$0.37	27.78

Is SBS or TAC more profitable?

Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP has a net margin of 25.62% compared to TransAlta's net margin of 5.72%. Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP's return on equity of 27.73% beat TransAlta's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	25.62%	27.73%	13.50%
TransAlta	5.72%	17.46%	1.84%

Is SBS or TAC a better dividend stock?

Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP pays an annual dividend of $0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. TransAlta pays an annual dividend of $0.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP pays out 8.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. TransAlta pays out 45.9% 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.

Does the media prefer SBS or TAC?

In the previous week, TransAlta had 7 more articles in the media than Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for TransAlta and 0 mentions for Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP. Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP's average media sentiment score of 1.23 beat TransAlta's score of 1.18 indicating that Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	Positive
TransAlta	Positive

Summary

Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP beats TransAlta on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.