MDU Resources Group, Inc. (MDU) vs Southwest Gas Corporation (SWX)

MDU Resources Group, Inc. and Southwest Gas Corporation are both Utilities Regulated Gas companies. Southwest Gas Corporation is the larger, with a market value of $5.9B against $3.9B — 1.5× the size. Southwest Gas Corporation trades at the lower P/E: 10.7× against 19.7×. Southwest Gas Corporation grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 103.7% against −1.13%. Southwest Gas Corporation has the higher net margin (31.4% vs 10.8%) and the higher return on invested capital (4.24% vs 3.56%). Both pay a dividend; Southwest Gas Corporation yields more (9.72% vs 2.53%). Across the 22 metrics below, Southwest Gas Corporation leads on 18 and MDU Resources Group, Inc. on 4.

Valuation

Metric MDU SWX Utilities Regulated Gas median
P/E 19.75 10.75 15.65
P/S 2.15 3.43 2.04
P/B 1.34 1.45 1.50
Price to free cash flow n/m n/m —
EV/EBITDA 12.30 10.91 11.49
EV/Sales 3.53 5.29 3.54
Earnings yield 5.06% 9.30% 6.39%
Free cash flow yield (9.82%) (8.83%) (5.71%)

Profitability

Metric MDU SWX Utilities Regulated Gas median
Gross margin 58.68% 85.21% 63.14%
Operating margin 16.98% 28.68% 21.47%
Net margin 10.75% 31.40% 13.00%
Free cash flow margin (21.10%) (30.32%) (13.27%)
Return on equity 6.95% 13.27% 9.47%
Return on assets 2.68% 4.82% 3.80%
Return on invested capital 3.56% 4.24% 4.29%

Growth

Metric MDU SWX Utilities Regulated Gas median
Revenue growth (TTM) (1.13%) 103.66% 6.36%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) (32.12%) 120.29% —
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR (19.46%) (10.07%) 6.36%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR (13.37%) 13.62% 8.10%

Health

Metric MDU SWX Utilities Regulated Gas median
Debt to equity 0.88 0.85 1.22
Current ratio 0.99 1.12 0.78
Net debt to EBITDA 5.31 3.64 4.68

Dividend

Metric MDU SWX Utilities Regulated Gas median
Dividend yield 2.53% 9.72% 4.31%
Payout ratio 0.36 1.03 0.62

Size

Metric MDU SWX Utilities Regulated Gas median
Market cap 3.92b 5.90b 4.52b

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