Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH) & Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) Critical Comparison

Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH) and Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Suburban Propane Partners and Chesapeake Utilities”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Suburban Propane Partners	$1.43 billion	0.82	$106.57 million	$1.99	8.92
Chesapeake Utilities	$91.38 billion	0.04	$140.30 million	$6.27	21.40

Chesapeake Utilities has higher revenue and earnings than Suburban Propane Partners. Suburban Propane Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chesapeake Utilities, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Suburban Propane Partners and Chesapeake Utilities, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Suburban Propane Partners	0	1	0	2	3.33
Chesapeake Utilities	0	3	1	0	2.25

Chesapeake Utilities has a consensus price target of $137.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.10%. Given Chesapeake Utilities’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Chesapeake Utilities is more favorable than Suburban Propane Partners.

Dividends

Suburban Propane Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.3%. Chesapeake Utilities pays an annual dividend of $2.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Suburban Propane Partners pays out 65.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chesapeake Utilities pays out 46.9% 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. Chesapeake Utilities has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Suburban Propane Partners and Chesapeake Utilities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Suburban Propane Partners	9.37%	18.97%	5.25%
Chesapeake Utilities	15.12%	9.46%	3.78%

Risk and Volatility

Suburban Propane Partners has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chesapeake Utilities has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

30.9% of Suburban Propane Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.1% of Chesapeake Utilities shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Suburban Propane Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Chesapeake Utilities shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Chesapeake Utilities beats Suburban Propane Partners on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Suburban Propane Partners

Suburban Propane Partners, L.P., through its subsidiaries, engages in the retail marketing and distribution of propane, renewable propane, fuel oil, and refined fuels in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Propane, Fuel Oil and Refined Fuels, Natural Gas and Electricity, and All Other. The Propane segment is involved in the retail distribution of propane for space heating, water heating, cooking, and clothes drying for use as a motor fuel in internal combustion engines to power over-the-road vehicles, forklifts, and stationary engines, as well as to fire furnaces as a cutting gas to the industrial customers; and for tobacco curing, crop drying, poultry brooding, and weed control in the agricultural markets. It also engages in the wholesale distribution of propane to industrial end users. Its Fuel Oil and Refined Fuels segment engages in the retail distribution of fuel oil, diesel, kerosene, and gasoline to residential and commercial customers for use in primarily as a source of heat in homes and buildings. The Natural Gas and Electricity segment markets natural gas and electricity to residential and commercial customers in the deregulated energy markets in New York and Pennsylvania. The All Other segment sells, installs, and services a range of home comfort equipment, including whole-house heating products, air cleaners, humidifiers, and space heaters. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural customers primarily in the east and west coast regions of the United States, as well as portions of the Midwest region of the United States and Alaska. Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. was founded in 1945 and is based in Whippany, New Jersey.

About Chesapeake Utilities

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation operates as an energy delivery company. The company operates through two segments, Regulated Energy and Unregulated Energy. The Regulated Energy segment natural gas distribution operations in central and southern Delaware, Maryland's eastern shore, and Florida; regulated natural gas transmission in the Delmarva Peninsula, Ohio, and Florida; and regulated electric distribution in northeast and northwest Florida. The Unregulated Energy segment engages in the propane operations in the Mid-Atlantic region, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida; unregulated natural gas transmission/supply operation in central and eastern Ohio; generation of electricity and steam; provision of compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and renewable natural gas transportation and pipeline solutions primarily to utilities and pipelines in the United States; and sustainable energy investments. This segment is also involved in the provision of other unregulated services, such as energy-related merchandise sale and heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and plumbing and electrical services. Chesapeake Utilities Corporation was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Dover, Delaware.