Fortis (FTS) Competitors

Fortis (TSE:FTS) and Hydro One (TSE:H) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, community ranking, valuation, institutional ownership, media sentiment, profitability and dividends.

Do analysts prefer FTS or H?

Fortis currently has a consensus target price of C$62.50, indicating a potential downside of 6.27%. Hydro One has a consensus target price of C$45.43, indicating a potential downside of 9.79%. Given Fortis' higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Fortis is more favorable than Hydro One.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fortis	2 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.78
Hydro One	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in FTS or H?

57.4% of Fortis shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.1% of Hydro One shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Fortis shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 47.1% of Hydro One shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in FTS or H?

Fortis received 236 more outperform votes than Hydro One when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.51% of users gave Fortis an outperform vote while only 63.91% of users gave Hydro One an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Fortis	Outperform Votes 723 66.51%	Underperform Votes 364 33.49%
Hydro One	Outperform Votes 487 63.91%	Underperform Votes 275 36.09%

Which has more volatility & risk, FTS or H?

Fortis has a beta of 0.23, meaning that its share price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hydro One has a beta of 0.34, meaning that its share price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FTS or H a better dividend stock?

Fortis pays an annual dividend of C$2.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Hydro One pays an annual dividend of C$1.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Fortis pays out 73.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hydro One pays out 66.4% 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.

Which has better earnings & valuation, FTS or H?

Fortis has higher revenue and earnings than Hydro One. Fortis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hydro One, 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
Fortis	C$11.41B	2.89	C$1.66B	C$3.37	19.79
Hydro One	C$8.37B	3.61	C$1.14B	C$1.90	26.56

Is FTS or H more profitable?

Fortis has a net margin of 14.53% compared to Hydro One's net margin of 13.59%. Hydro One's return on equity of 9.58% beat Fortis' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fortis	14.53%	7.48%	3.09%
Hydro One	13.59%	9.58%	3.57%

Does the media prefer FTS or H?

In the previous week, Hydro One had 4 more articles in the media than Fortis. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Hydro One and 6 mentions for Fortis. Fortis' average media sentiment score of 0.40 beat Hydro One's score of -0.05 indicating that Fortis is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Fortis	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Hydro One	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

Fortis beats Hydro One on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.