United Utilities Group (OTCMKTS:UUGRY) & Vistra (NYSE:VST) Financial Review

Vistra (NYSE:VST) and United Utilities Group (OTCMKTS:UUGRY) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

90.9% of Vistra shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Vistra shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Vistra and United Utilities Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vistra	$19.45 billion	2.68	$944.00 million	$5.97	25.91
United Utilities Group	$3.51 billion	3.75	$786.53 million	N/A	N/A

Vistra has higher revenue and earnings than United Utilities Group.

Risk and Volatility

Vistra has a beta of 1.43, indicating that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Utilities Group has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Vistra and United Utilities Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vistra	11.52%	105.64%	7.22%
United Utilities Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Vistra and United Utilities Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vistra	0	1	13	2	3.06
United Utilities Group	0	4	2	1	2.57

Vistra currently has a consensus target price of $233.33, suggesting a potential upside of 50.83%. Given Vistra’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Vistra is more favorable than United Utilities Group.

Dividends

Vistra pays an annual dividend of $0.91 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. United Utilities Group pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Vistra pays out 15.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vistra has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Summary

Vistra beats United Utilities Group on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vistra

Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia. In addition, the company is involved in the electricity generation, wholesale energy purchases and sales, commodity risk management, fuel production, and fuel logistics management activities. It serves approximately 4 million customers with a generation capacity of approximately 37,000 megawatts with a portfolio of natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar, and battery energy storage facilities. The company was formerly known as Vistra Energy Corp. and changed its name to Vistra Corp. in July 2020. Vistra Corp. was founded in 1882 and is based in Irving, Texas.

About United Utilities Group

United Utilities Group PLC provides water and wastewater services in the United Kingdom. It is involved in the renewable energy generation, corporate trustee, financing, and property management activities; and provision of consulting, and project management services. The company operates 43,000 kilometers of water pipes; and 79,000 kilometers of wastewater pipes. United Utilities Group PLC was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Warrington, the United Kingdom.