Critical Survey: Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) & ATCO (OTCMKTS:ACLLF)

ATCO (OTCMKTS:ACLLF) and Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) are both utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for ATCO and Public Service Enterprise Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ATCO	0	4	2	0	2.33
Public Service Enterprise Group	0	10	6	1	2.47

Public Service Enterprise Group has a consensus price target of $89.43, suggesting a potential upside of 22.02%. Given Public Service Enterprise Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Public Service Enterprise Group is more favorable than ATCO.

Dividends

ATCO pays an annual dividend of $0.83 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Public Service Enterprise Group pays an annual dividend of $2.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. ATCO pays out 24.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Public Service Enterprise Group pays out 66.7% 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. Public Service Enterprise Group has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Public Service Enterprise Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

24.5% of ATCO shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.3% of Public Service Enterprise Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Public Service Enterprise Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ATCO and Public Service Enterprise Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ATCO	N/A	N/A	N/A	$3.44	15.57
Public Service Enterprise Group	$12.17 billion	3.00	$2.11 billion	$4.02	18.23

Public Service Enterprise Group has higher revenue and earnings than ATCO. ATCO is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Public Service Enterprise Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares ATCO and Public Service Enterprise Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ATCO	N/A	N/A	N/A
Public Service Enterprise Group	16.04%	12.42%	3.68%

Summary

Public Service Enterprise Group beats ATCO on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ATCO

ATCO Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of energy, logistics and transportation, water, food and agriculture, real estate, and shelter services in Canada, Australia, and internationally. The company engages in the electricity and natural gas transmission and distribution, and international electricity operations; energy storage, electricity generation, industrial water solutions, and clean fuels; and electricity and natural gas retail sales, and whole-home solutions. It also offers workforce and residential housing, modular facilities, construction and site support, workforce lodging, facility operations and maintenance, defense operations, and disaster and emergency management services. In addition, the company provides commercial real estate services, including sale, lease, and development of office and industrial properties; process and markets fly ash; and generates electricity through hydro, solar, wind, and natural gas facilities. Further, the company provides ports and transportation logistics; natural gas liquids storage services; and provides integrated water services, including pipeline transportation, storage, water treatment, recycling, and disposal to various industrial customers. ATCO Ltd. was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. ATCO Ltd. is a subsidiary of Sentgraf Enterprises Ltd.

About Public Service Enterprise Group

Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, operates in electric and gas utility business in the United States. It operates through PSE&G and PSEG Power segments. The PSE&G segment transmits electricity; distributes electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers; and appliance services and repairs to customers through its service territory, as well as invests in solar generation projects, and energy efficiency and related programs. The PSEG Power segment engages in nuclear generation businesses; and supplies power and natural gas to nuclear power plants and gas storage facilities activities. As of December 31, 2023, it had electric transmission and distribution system of 25,000 circuit miles and 866,600 poles; 56 switching stations with an installed capacity of 39,953 megavolt-amperes (MVA), and 235 substations with an installed capacity of 10,382 MVA; 109 MVA aggregate installed capacity for substations; four electric distribution headquarters and five electric sub-headquarters; 18,000 miles of gas mains, 12 gas distribution headquarters, two sub-headquarters, and one meter shop, as well as 56 natural gas metering and regulating stations; and 158 MegaWatts defined conditions of installed PV solar capacity. Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated was founded in 1903 and is based in Newark, New Jersey.