TransAlta (TA) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community favor TA or EMA?

Emera received 251 more outperform votes than TransAlta when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.24% of users gave Emera an outperform vote while only 53.05% of users gave TransAlta an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
TransAlta	Outperform Votes 339 53.05%	Underperform Votes 300 46.95%
Emera	Outperform Votes 590 58.24%	Underperform Votes 423 41.76%

Does the media favor TA or EMA?

In the previous week, TransAlta had 1 more articles in the media than Emera. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for TransAlta and 17 mentions for Emera. Emera's average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat TransAlta's score of 0.35 indicating that Emera is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
TransAlta	2 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Emera	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, TA or EMA?

TransAlta has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Emera has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is TA or EMA a better dividend stock?

TransAlta pays an annual dividend of C$0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Emera pays an annual dividend of C$2.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. TransAlta pays out 12.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Emera pays out 112.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Do analysts rate TA or EMA?

TransAlta presently has a consensus price target of C$18.33, suggesting a potential downside of 4.11%. Emera has a consensus price target of C$57.10, suggesting a potential upside of 8.80%. Given Emera's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Emera is more favorable than TransAlta.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TransAlta	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75
Emera	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82

Is TA or EMA more profitable?

TransAlta has a net margin of 19.50% compared to Emera's net margin of 10.83%. TransAlta's return on equity of 32.01% beat Emera's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TransAlta	19.50%	32.01%	7.07%
Emera	10.83%	6.60%	2.30%

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, TA or EMA?

Emera has higher revenue and earnings than TransAlta. TransAlta is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Emera, 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
TransAlta	C$3.17B	1.80	C$566M	C$1.90	10.06
Emera	C$7.35B	2.06	C$725.70M	C$2.57	20.42

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in TA or EMA?

70.8% of TransAlta shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.1% of Emera shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of TransAlta shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Emera shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Emera beats TransAlta on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.