Reviewing APA Group (OTCMKTS:APAJF) & AltaGas (OTCMKTS:ATGFF)

APA Group (OTCMKTS:APAJF) and AltaGas (OTCMKTS:ATGFF) are both utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares APA Group and AltaGas’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
APA Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
AltaGas	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

20.7% of APA Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.7% of AltaGas shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

APA Group pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. AltaGas pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. APA Group pays out 72.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AltaGas pays out 136.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares APA Group and AltaGas”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
APA Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.39	19.66
AltaGas	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.10	34.48

APA Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AltaGas, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for APA Group and AltaGas, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
APA Group	0	1	0	0	2.00
AltaGas	0	0	6	0	3.00

APA Group presently has a consensus target price of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.40%. Given APA Group’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe APA Group is more favorable than AltaGas.

Summary

AltaGas beats APA Group on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About APA Group

APA Group engages in the energy infrastructure business in Australia. The company operates through Energy Infrastructure, Asset Management, and Energy Investments segments. It operates gas transmission pipelines and interconnected grids, gas-fired power stations, electricity transmission interconnectors, solar and wind farms, and battery energy storage systems, as well as gas storage, processing, and compression facilities. The company also has interests in approximately 15,000 kilometers of gas transmission pipelines; approximately 29,500 kilometers of gas mains and pipelines; and 1.5 million gas consumer connections. It also provides asset management and operating services to its energy investments and third parties; and invests in energy infrastructure. The company is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

About AltaGas

AltaGas Ltd. operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. The company operates through Utilities and Midstream segments. The Utilities segment owns and operates franchised, cost-of-service, rate-regulated natural gas distribution and storage utilities in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the District of Columbia serving approximately 1.6 million customers. This segment also provides interstate natural gas transportation and storage services. The Midstream segment engages in the natural gas gathering, processing, and extraction with 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of extraction processing capacity and approximately 1.2 Bcf/d of raw field gas processing capacity; fractionation and liquids handling business; and natural gas and natural gas liquids marketing activities. It also engages in LPG exports and distribution, logistics, trucking and rail terminals, and liquid storage businesses. In addition, the company operates gas-fired power generation and distribution assets with a generating capacity of 508 megawatt of power in California. It serves residential, commercial, and industrial customers. AltaGas Ltd. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.