Reviewing Vistra (NYSE:VST) and Northland Power (OTCMKTS:NPIFF)

Northland Power (OTCMKTS:NPIFF) and Vistra (NYSE:VST) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

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

Volatility and Risk

Northland Power has a beta of 0.17, indicating that its share price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vistra has a beta of 1.41, indicating that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Northland Power and Vistra’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northland Power	-5.63%	10.77%	3.47%
Vistra	11.52%	105.64%	7.22%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Northland Power and Vistra”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northland Power	$1.74 billion	2.25	-$116.84 million	($0.42)	-35.67
Vistra	$17.74 billion	2.68	$944.00 million	$5.97	23.61

Vistra has higher revenue and earnings than Northland Power. Northland Power is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vistra, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Northland Power and Vistra, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northland Power	0	4	3	0	2.43
Vistra	0	1	13	3	3.12

Vistra has a consensus price target of $229.88, suggesting a potential upside of 63.09%. Given Vistra’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Vistra is more favorable than Northland Power.

Dividends

Northland Power pays an annual dividend of $0.51 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Vistra pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Northland Power pays out -121.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vistra pays out 15.4% 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. Vistra has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Northland Power is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Vistra beats Northland Power on 16 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Northland Power

Northland Power Inc., an independent power producer, develops, builds, owns, and operates clean and green power projects in Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Colombia, and internationally. The company produces electricity from renewable resources, such as wind and solar, as well as natural gas for sale under power purchase agreements and other revenue arrangements. It owned or had an economic interest 3.4 gigawatts of operating generating capacity. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

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.