Critical Analysis: Via Renewables (NASDAQ:VIASP) versus Hydro One (OTCMKTS:HRNNF)

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

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Via Renewables and Hydro One”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Via Renewables	$417.40 million	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hydro One	$6.19 billion	3.70	$843.65 million	$0.75	51.00

Hydro One has higher revenue and earnings than Via Renewables.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Via Renewables	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hydro One	14.74%	10.52%	3.47%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Via Renewables and Hydro One, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Via Renewables	0	0	0	0	0.00
Hydro One	0	5	1	0	2.17

Dividends

Via Renewables pays an annual dividend of $3.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.9%. Hydro One pays an annual dividend of $0.95 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. 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.

Summary

Hydro One beats Via Renewables on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Via Renewables

Via Renewables, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an independent retail energy services company in the United States. It operates through two segments, Retail Electricity and Retail Natural Gas. The Retail Electricity segment engages in the transmission and sale of electricity to residential and commercial customers. The Retail Natural Gas segment is involved in the transportation, distribution, and sale of natural gas to residential and commercial customers. It also provides broker services for retail energy customers; and wireless services and equipment to wireless customers. The company offers its services under the Electricity Maine, Electricity N.H., Major Energy, Provider Power Massachusetts, Spark Energy, and Verde Energy brand names. It operates in 104 utility service territories across 20 states and the District of Columbia; and has approximately 335,000 residential customer equivalents. The company was formerly known as Spark Energy, Inc. and changed its name to Via Renewables, Inc. in August 2021. Via Renewables, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

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.