UGI (UGI) Competitors

UGI (NYSE:UGI) and Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, community ranking, valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, media sentiment, risk and profitability.

Does the media favor UGI or SWX?

In the previous week, UGI had 12 more articles in the media than Southwest Gas. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for UGI and 8 mentions for Southwest Gas. Southwest Gas' average media sentiment score of 1.47 beat UGI's score of 0.90 indicating that Southwest Gas is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
UGI	10 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Southwest Gas	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders believe in UGI or SWX?

82.3% of UGI shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.8% of Southwest Gas shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of UGI shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Southwest Gas shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer UGI or SWX?

UGI currently has a consensus price target of $28.50, indicating a potential upside of 17.19%. Southwest Gas has a consensus price target of $73.67, indicating a potential downside of 3.45%. Given UGI's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe UGI is more favorable than Southwest Gas.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
UGI	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Southwest Gas	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is UGI or SWX more profitable?

UGI has a net margin of 9.13% compared to Southwest Gas' net margin of 3.44%. UGI's return on equity of 15.65% beat Southwest Gas' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
UGI	9.13%	15.65%	4.52%
Southwest Gas	3.44%	5.99%	1.76%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor UGI or SWX?

Southwest Gas received 53 more outperform votes than UGI when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 53.61% of users gave UGI an outperform vote while only 51.21% of users gave Southwest Gas an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
UGI	Outperform Votes 223 53.61%	Underperform Votes 193 46.39%
Southwest Gas	Outperform Votes 276 51.21%	Underperform Votes 263 48.79%

Is UGI or SWX a better dividend stock?

UGI pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.2%. Southwest Gas pays an annual dividend of $2.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. UGI pays out 48.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southwest Gas pays out 100.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. UGI has increased its dividend for 36 consecutive years and Southwest Gas has increased its dividend for 17 consecutive years. UGI is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, UGI or SWX?

UGI has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southwest Gas has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, UGI or SWX?

Southwest Gas has lower revenue, but higher earnings than UGI. UGI is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southwest Gas, 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
UGI	$8.93B	0.58	-$1.50B	$3.12	7.79
Southwest Gas	$5.43B	1.01	$150.89M	$2.48	30.77

Summary

UGI beats Southwest Gas on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.