TransAlta (TAC) Competitors

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) and TransAlta (NYSE:TAC) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, community ranking, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk, media sentiment and earnings.

Which has more volatility and risk, WTRG or TAC?

Essential Utilities has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TransAlta has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation & earnings, WTRG or TAC?

TransAlta has higher revenue and earnings than Essential Utilities. Essential Utilities 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
Essential Utilities	$2.09B	5.18	$498.23M	$2.17	18.11
TransAlta	$2.85B	0.99	$514.86M	$0.41	23.09

Is WTRG or TAC a better dividend stock?

Essential Utilities pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. TransAlta pays an annual dividend of $0.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Essential Utilities pays out 59.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. TransAlta pays out 43.9% 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. Essential Utilities has raised its dividend for 32 consecutive years. Essential Utilities is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media refer more to WTRG or TAC?

In the previous week, Essential Utilities had 4 more articles in the media than TransAlta. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Essential Utilities and 7 mentions for TransAlta. TransAlta's average media sentiment score of 1.27 beat Essential Utilities' score of 0.83 indicating that TransAlta is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Essential Utilities	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
TransAlta	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer WTRG or TAC?

Essential Utilities currently has a consensus target price of $43.50, indicating a potential upside of 10.70%. TransAlta has a consensus target price of $19.50, indicating a potential upside of 106.02%. Given TransAlta's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe TransAlta is more favorable than Essential Utilities.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essential Utilities	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83
TransAlta	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Is WTRG or TAC more profitable?

Essential Utilities has a net margin of 27.84% compared to TransAlta's net margin of 6.38%. TransAlta's return on equity of 18.47% beat Essential Utilities' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essential Utilities	27.84%	7.89%	2.79%
TransAlta	6.38%	18.47%	2.09%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WTRG or TAC?

TransAlta received 261 more outperform votes than Essential Utilities when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 55.18% of users gave TransAlta an outperform vote while only 37.21% of users gave Essential Utilities an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Essential Utilities	Outperform Votes 32 37.21%	Underperform Votes 54 62.79%
TransAlta	Outperform Votes 293 55.18%	Underperform Votes 238 44.82%

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

74.8% of Essential Utilities shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.0% of TransAlta shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Essential Utilities 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.

Summary

TransAlta beats Essential Utilities on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.