Comparing SSE (SSEZF) and Its Peers

Institutional and Insider Ownership

40.4% of SSE shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.9% of shares of all “Electric Utilities” companies are owned by institutional investors. 6.2% of shares of all “Electric Utilities” companies are owned by 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.

Dividends

SSE pays an annual dividend of $0.87 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. SSE pays out 419.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Electric Utilities” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.3% and pay out 65.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. SSE lags its rivals as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SSE and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
SSE	N/A	N/A	153.31
SSE Competitors	$13.52 billion	$1.54 billion	20.83

SSE’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than SSE. SSE is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares SSE and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SSE	N/A	N/A	N/A
SSE Competitors	13.66%	9.74%	3.20%

Summary

SSE rivals beat SSE on 8 of the 9 factors compared.

About SSE

SSE plc engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and supply of electricity. It generates electricity from water, gas, coal, oil, and multi fuel. The company distributes electricity to approximately 3.8 million homes and businesses across the north of the central belt of Scotland and central southern England; and owns, operates, and develops high voltage electricity transmission system in the north of Scotland and remote islands. It also produces, stores, distributes, and supplies gas. In addition, it engages in the electricity and utility contracting, telecommunications, energy trading, insurance, and property holding businesses, as well as provides maintenance services. The company was formerly known as Scottish and Southern Energy plc and changed its name to SSE plc in September 2011. SSE plc was incorporated in 1989 and is based in Perth, the United Kingdom.