Head to Head Review: Fortis (NYSE:FTS) versus Caribbean Utilities (OTCMKTS:CUPUF)

Fortis (NYSE:FTS) and Caribbean Utilities (OTCMKTS:CUPUF) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Fortis pays an annual dividend of $1.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Caribbean Utilities pays an annual dividend of $0.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Fortis pays out 76.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Caribbean Utilities pays out 94.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Fortis and Caribbean Utilities, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fortis	1	2	1	0	2.00
Caribbean Utilities	0	0	0	0	N/A

Fortis currently has a consensus price target of $55.13, suggesting a potential upside of 40.04%. Given Fortis’ higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Fortis is more favorable than Caribbean Utilities.

Profitability

This table compares Fortis and Caribbean Utilities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fortis	13.22%	7.00%	2.32%
Caribbean Utilities	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

57.8% of Fortis shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Caribbean Utilities shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Fortis and Caribbean Utilities’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fortis	$8.53 billion	2.26	$1.17 billion	$2.30	17.12
Caribbean Utilities	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.70	18.36

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

Summary

Fortis beats Caribbean Utilities on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fortis

Fortis Inc. operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 447,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 103,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,408 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity. The company also sells wholesale electricity to other entities in the western United States; owns gas-fired and hydroelectric generating capacity totaling 65 MW; and distributes natural gas to approximately 1,087,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in British Columbia, Canada. In addition, it owns and operates the electricity distribution system that serves approximately 592,000 customers in southern and central Alberta; owns four hydroelectric generating facilities with a combined capacity of 225 MW; and provides operation, maintenance, and management services to five hydroelectric generating facilities. Further, the company distributes electricity in the island portion of Newfoundland and Labrador with an installed generating capacity of 145 MW; and on Prince Edward Island with a generating capacity of 90 MW. Additionally, it provides integrated electric utility service to approximately 69,000 customers in Ontario; approximately 275,000 customers in Newfoundland and Labrador; approximately 34,000 customers on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; and approximately 17,000 customers on certain islands in Turks and Caicos. It also holds long-term contracted generation assets in Belize consisting of 3 hydroelectric generating facilities with a combined capacity of 51 MW; and the Aitken Creek natural gas storage facility. It also owns and operates approximately 90,500 circuit Kilometers (km) of distribution lines; and approximately 51,600 km of natural gas pipelines. Fortis Inc. was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in St. John's, Canada.

About Caribbean Utilities

Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Grand Cayman. The company generates electricity using diesel with 166 megawatts total installed capacity. It also operates nine transformer substations with approximately 436 miles of land-based high voltage transmission and distribution lines and 15 miles of high-voltage submarine cables. The company also provides telecommunication services. The company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Grand Cayman, the Cayman Islands. Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. is a subsidiary of Fortis Energy (Bermuda) Ltd.