Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR – Get Free Report) and Hydro One (OTCMKTS:HRNNF – Get Free Report) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Portland General Electric and Hydro One, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Portland General Electric | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2.18 |
| Hydro One | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Portland General Electric currently has a consensus price target of $51.15, indicating a potential upside of 9.10%. Given Portland General Electric’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Portland General Electric is more favorable than Hydro One.
Valuation and Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Portland General Electric | $3.58 billion | 1.54 | $306.00 million | $2.27 | 20.65 |
| Hydro One | $6.47 billion | 3.33 | $958.32 million | $1.71 | 20.99 |
Hydro One has higher revenue and earnings than Portland General Electric. Portland General Electric 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 Portland General Electric and Hydro One’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Portland General Electric | 7.27% | 7.47% | 2.30% |
| Hydro One | 14.88% | 11.02% | 3.56% |
Dividends
Portland General Electric pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Hydro One pays an annual dividend of $1.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Portland General Electric pays out 96.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Hydro One pays out 59.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Portland General Electric has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Portland General Electric is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
Hydro One beats Portland General Electric on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Portland General Electric
Portland General Electric Company, an integrated electric utility company, engages in the generation, wholesale purchase, transmission, distribution, and retail sale of electricity in the state of Oregon. It operates six thermal plants, three wind farms, and seven hydroelectric facilities. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned an electric transmission system consisting of 1,254 circuit miles, including 287 circuit miles of 500 kilovolt line, 413 circuit miles of 230 kilovolt line, and 554 miles of 115 kilovolt line; and served 934 thousand retail customers in 51 cities. It also has 28,868 circuit miles of distribution lines. Portland General Electric Company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.
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.
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