SWX vs. CPK, UGI, MDU, NFG, IDA, BEP, POR, NJR, AQN, and ENIC
Should you be buying Southwest Gas stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Southwest Gas include Chesapeake Utilities (CPK), UGI (UGI), MDU Resources Group (MDU), National Fuel Gas (NFG), IDACORP (IDA), Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP), Portland General Electric (POR), New Jersey Resources (NJR), Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN), and Enel Chile (ENIC). These companies are all part of the "utilities" sector.
Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) and Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, community ranking, media sentiment, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Chesapeake Utilities has a net margin of 13.01% compared to Southwest Gas' net margin of 2.78%. Chesapeake Utilities' return on equity of 10.19% beat Southwest Gas' return on equity.
In the previous week, Southwest Gas had 2 more articles in the media than Chesapeake Utilities. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Southwest Gas and 2 mentions for Chesapeake Utilities. Southwest Gas' average media sentiment score of 0.95 beat Chesapeake Utilities' score of 0.63 indicating that Southwest Gas is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Southwest Gas currently has a consensus target price of $73.00, indicating a potential downside of 3.14%. Chesapeake Utilities has a consensus target price of $107.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.51%. Given Chesapeake Utilities' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Chesapeake Utilities is more favorable than Southwest Gas.
Southwest Gas has higher revenue and earnings than Chesapeake Utilities. Chesapeake Utilities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southwest Gas, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Southwest Gas pays an annual dividend of $2.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Chesapeake Utilities pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Southwest Gas pays out 117.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Chesapeake Utilities pays out 49.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.
Chesapeake Utilities received 60 more outperform votes than Southwest Gas when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.98% of users gave Chesapeake Utilities an outperform vote while only 51.59% of users gave Southwest Gas an outperform vote.
92.8% of Southwest Gas shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.1% of Chesapeake Utilities shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Southwest Gas shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Chesapeake Utilities shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Southwest Gas has a beta of 0.36, indicating that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chesapeake Utilities has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Chesapeake Utilities beats Southwest Gas on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
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This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding SWX and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartThis chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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