National Grid Transco (NYSE:NGG) & Vistra (NYSE:VST) Head to Head Comparison

Vistra (NYSE:VST) and National Grid Transco (NYSE:NGG) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.9% of Vistra shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.7% of National Grid Transco shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Vistra shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Vistra pays an annual dividend of $0.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. National Grid Transco pays an annual dividend of $2.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Vistra pays out 32.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vistra has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Vistra and National Grid Transco, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vistra	0	3	12	4	3.05
National Grid Transco	2	5	3	0	2.10

Vistra presently has a consensus target price of $233.20, suggesting a potential upside of 35.08%. National Grid Transco has a consensus target price of $80.40, suggesting a potential upside of 6.31%. Given Vistra’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Vistra is more favorable than National Grid Transco.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Vistra and National Grid Transco”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vistra	$17.22 billion	3.40	$2.66 billion	$2.77	62.32
National Grid Transco	$17.48 billion	4.29	$3.70 billion	N/A	N/A

National Grid Transco has higher revenue and earnings than Vistra.

Profitability

This table compares Vistra and National Grid Transco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vistra	6.70%	64.04%	4.45%
National Grid Transco	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Vistra has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Grid Transco has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Vistra beats National Grid Transco on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vistra

Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia. In addition, the company is involved in the electricity generation, wholesale energy purchases and sales, commodity risk management, fuel production, and fuel logistics management activities. It serves approximately 4 million customers with a generation capacity of approximately 37,000 megawatts with a portfolio of natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar, and battery energy storage facilities. The company was formerly known as Vistra Energy Corp. and changed its name to Vistra Corp. in July 2020. Vistra Corp. was founded in 1882 and is based in Irving, Texas.

About National Grid Transco

National Grid plc transmits and distributes electricity and gas. It operates through UK Electricity Transmission, UK Electricity Distribution, UK Electricity System Operator, New England, New York, National Grid Ventures, and Other segments. The UK Electricity Transmission segment provides electricity transmission and construction work services in England and Wales. The UK Electricity Distribution segment offers electricity distribution services in Midlands, and South West of England and South Wales. The UK Electricity System Operator segment provides balancing services for supply and demand of electricity on Great Britain’s electricity transmission system; and acts as an agent on behalf of transmission operators. The New England segment offers electricity and gas distribution, and electricity transmission services in New England. The New York segment provides electricity and gas distribution, and electricity transmission services in New York. The National Grid Ventures segment provides transmission services through electricity interconnectors and LNG importation at the Isle of Grain, as well as sale of renewables projects. The Other segment engages in the leasing and sale of commercial property, as well as insurance activities in the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.