ATCO (ACO.X) Competitors

ATCO (TSE:ACO.X) and Canadian Utilities (TSE:CU) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, community ranking, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in ACO.X or CU?

28.4% of ATCO shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 14.1% of Canadian Utilities shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of ATCO shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 37.6% of Canadian Utilities shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, ACO.X or CU?

Canadian Utilities has lower revenue, but higher earnings than ATCO. ATCO is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Canadian Utilities, 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
ATCO	C$4.71B	1.00	C$385M	C$3.42	13.80
Canadian Utilities	C$3.74B	1.91	C$537M	C$1.98	17.59

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ACO.X or CU?

Canadian Utilities received 217 more outperform votes than ATCO when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.15% of users gave Canadian Utilities an outperform vote while only 45.61% of users gave ATCO an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
ATCO	Outperform Votes 213 45.61%	Underperform Votes 254 54.39%
Canadian Utilities	Outperform Votes 430 59.15%	Underperform Votes 297 40.85%

Does the media refer more to ACO.X or CU?

In the previous week, ATCO had 1 more articles in the media than Canadian Utilities. MarketBeat recorded 1 mentions for ATCO and 0 mentions for Canadian Utilities. ATCO's average media sentiment score of 1.92 beat Canadian Utilities' score of 0.00 indicating that ATCO is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
ATCO	Very Positive
Canadian Utilities	Neutral

Is ACO.X or CU a better dividend stock?

ATCO pays an annual dividend of C$1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Canadian Utilities pays an annual dividend of C$1.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. ATCO pays out 57.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Canadian Utilities pays out 91.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Is ACO.X or CU more profitable?

Canadian Utilities has a net margin of 16.43% compared to ATCO's net margin of 8.16%. Canadian Utilities' return on equity of 8.72% beat ATCO's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ATCO	8.16%	8.54%	2.95%
Canadian Utilities	16.43%	8.72%	2.66%

Do analysts rate ACO.X or CU?

ATCO currently has a consensus price target of C$51.10, indicating a potential upside of 8.24%. Canadian Utilities has a consensus price target of C$36.80, indicating a potential upside of 5.69%. Given ATCO's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe ATCO is more favorable than Canadian Utilities.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ATCO	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
Canadian Utilities	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has more risk and volatility, ACO.X or CU?

ATCO has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Canadian Utilities has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

ATCO beats Canadian Utilities on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.