Contrasting Unitil (NYSE:UTL) & AusNet Services (OTCMKTS:SAUNF)

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) and AusNet Services (OTCMKTS:SAUNF) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Unitil and AusNet Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unitil	9.60%	9.89%	2.89%
AusNet Services	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Unitil and AusNet Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Unitil	$582.10 million	1.67	$50.20 million	$3.16	17.08
AusNet Services	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Unitil has higher revenue and earnings than AusNet Services.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Unitil and AusNet Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unitil	0	5	0	0	2.00
AusNet Services	0	0	0	0	0.00

Unitil presently has a consensus price target of $56.50, suggesting a potential upside of 4.67%. Given Unitil’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Unitil is more favorable than AusNet Services.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

76.8% of Unitil shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Unitil shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Unitil beats AusNet Services on 8 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Unitil

Unitil Corporation, a public utility holding company, engages in the distribution of electricity and natural gas. It operates through two segments, Utility Electric Operations, Utility Gas Operations. The company distributes electricity in the southeastern seacoast and state capital regions of New Hampshire, and the greater Fitchburg area of north central Massachusetts; and distributes natural gas in southeastern New Hampshire and portions of southern and central Maine, including the city of Portland and the Lewiston-Auburn area, as well as electricity and natural gas in the greater Fitchburg area of north central Massachusetts. It also operates 86 miles of interstate underground natural gas transmission pipeline that provides interstate natural gas pipeline access and transportation services primarily in Maine and New Hampshire. In addition, the company provides real estate management services. It serves approximately 108,100 electric customers and 87,500 natural gas customers. Unitil Corporation was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Hampton, New Hampshire.

About AusNet Services

AusNet Services Ltd. engages in the production and distribution of electricity and gas. It operates through the following segments: Electricity Distribution, Gas Distribution, Electricity Transmission, and Growth and Future Networks. The Electricity Distribution segment carries electricity from the high voltage transmission network to end users. The Gas Distribution segment handles the natural gas to commercial and residential end users. The Electricity Transmission segment owns and manages the vast majority of the electricity transmission network in Victoria. The Growth and Future Networks segment provides contracted infrastructure asset and energy services, as well as a range of asset and utility services to support the management of electricity, gas, and water networks. The company was founded in June 2005 and is headquartered in Southbank, Australia.