Spire Inc. (SR) vs Southwest Gas Corporation (SWX)

Spire Inc. and Southwest Gas Corporation are both Utilities Regulated Gas companies. Southwest Gas Corporation is the larger, with a market value of $6.6B against $5.3B — 1.2× the size. Spire Inc. trades at the lower P/E: 9.9× against 22.1×. Spire Inc. grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 4.12% against −36.9%. Spire Inc. has the higher net margin (20.9% vs 16.8%) and the lower return on invested capital (3.76% vs 4.11%). Both pay a dividend; Spire Inc. yields more (3.70% vs 2.80%). Across the 22 metrics below, Spire Inc. leads on 14 and Southwest Gas Corporation on 8.

Valuation

Metric SR SWX Utilities Regulated Gas median
P/E 9.92 22.07 18.45
P/S 2.07 3.81 2.24
P/B 1.47 1.60 1.60
Price to free cash flow n/m n/m —
EV/EBITDA 12.26 11.88 12.21
EV/Sales 4.43 5.83 3.95
Earnings yield 10.08% 4.53% 5.44%
Free cash flow yield (4.23%) (8.74%) (4.57%)

Profitability

Metric SR SWX Utilities Regulated Gas median
Gross margin 69.16% 86.36% 63.29%
Operating margin 22.69% 28.91% 22.80%
Net margin 20.93% 16.78% 13.27%
Free cash flow margin (8.77%) (33.29%) (11.13%)
Return on equity 15.57% 7.20% 9.10%
Return on assets 4.17% 2.77% 3.58%
Return on invested capital 3.76% 4.11% 4.40%

Growth

Metric SR SWX Utilities Regulated Gas median
Revenue growth (TTM) 4.12% (36.91%) 3.64%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 4.30% 120.29% 13.77%
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 5.94% (10.07%) 6.36%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 28.34% 13.62% 8.10%

Health

Metric SR SWX Utilities Regulated Gas median
Debt to equity 1.67 0.86 1.15
Current ratio 0.37 0.89 0.80
Net debt to EBITDA 4.68 3.64 4.57

Dividend

Metric SR SWX Utilities Regulated Gas median
Dividend yield 3.70% 2.80% 3.32%
Payout ratio 0.37 0.62 0.59

Size

Metric SR SWX Utilities Regulated Gas median
Market cap 5.28b 6.56b 5.26b

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