Hydro One (OTCMKTS:HRNNF) and Emera (OTCMKTS:EMRAF) Head to Head Survey

Hydro One (OTCMKTS:HRNNF) and Emera (OTCMKTS:EMRAF) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

23.8% of Emera shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Hydro One and Emera, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hydro One	0	5	1	0	2.17
Emera	0	2	2	0	2.50

Dividends

Hydro One pays an annual dividend of $0.95 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Emera pays an annual dividend of $1.45 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Hydro One pays out 126.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Emera pays out 73.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Emera is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Hydro One and Emera”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hydro One	$6.47 billion	3.84	$958.29 million	$0.75	55.25
Emera	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.97	23.11

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

Profitability

This table compares Hydro One and Emera’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hydro One	14.82%	10.77%	3.55%
Emera	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Emera beats Hydro One on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hydro One

Hydro One Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as an electricity transmission and distribution company in Ontario. The company operates through three segments: Transmission, Distribution, and Other. It owns and operates approximately 30,000 circuit kilometers of high-voltage transmission lines and approximately 125,000 circuit kilometers primary low-voltage distribution lines. The company serves residential, small business, commercial, and industrial customers, as well as municipal utilities. It also provides telecommunications support services for its transmission and distribution businesses; and information and communications technology services and solutions. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About Emera

Emera Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity to various customers. The company operates through Florida Electric Utility, Canadian Electric Utilities, Other Electric Utilities, Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, and Other segments. It generates electricity through natural gas, solar, hydroelectricity, coal, and biomass power plants. The company is also involved in the purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of natural gas; and the provision of energy marketing, trading, and other energy asset management services. In addition, it transports re-gasified liquefied natural gas from Saint John, New Brunswick to consumers in the northeastern United States through its 145-kilometer pipeline. As of December 31, 2023, the company’s electric utilities served approximately 840,000 customers in West Central Florida; 549,000 customers in Nova Scotia; 134,000 customers in the island of Barbados; 19,000 customers in the Grand Bahama Island; and gas utilities and infrastructure served approximately 490,000 customers across Florida and 540,000 customers in New Mexico. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Halifax, Canada.