Comparing Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) & Caribbean Utilities (OTCMKTS:CUPUF)

Caribbean Utilities (OTCMKTS:CUPUF) and Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) are both utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Caribbean Utilities and Black Hills’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Caribbean Utilities	N/A	N/A	N/A
Black Hills	12.67%	7.83%	2.80%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Caribbean Utilities and Black Hills”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Caribbean Utilities	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.70	18.59
Black Hills	$2.13 billion	1.96	$273.10 million	$3.92	14.68

Black Hills has higher revenue and earnings than Caribbean Utilities. Black Hills is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Caribbean Utilities, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.1% of Caribbean Utilities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of Black Hills shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Black Hills shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Caribbean Utilities pays an annual dividend of $0.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Black Hills pays an annual dividend of $2.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Caribbean Utilities pays out 94.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Black Hills pays out 68.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Black Hills has raised its dividend for 55 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Caribbean Utilities and Black Hills, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Caribbean Utilities	0	0	0	0	0.00
Black Hills	0	2	1	0	2.33

Black Hills has a consensus target price of $66.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.72%. Given Black Hills’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Black Hills is more favorable than Caribbean Utilities.

Summary

Black Hills beats Caribbean Utilities on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Caribbean Utilities

Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Grand Cayman. The company generates electricity using diesel with 166 megawatts total installed capacity. It also operates nine transformer substations with approximately 436 miles of land-based high voltage transmission and distribution lines and 15 miles of high-voltage submarine cables. The company also provides telecommunication services. The company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Grand Cayman, the Cayman Islands. Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. is a subsidiary of Fortis Energy (Bermuda) Ltd.

About Black Hills

Black Hills Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company in the United States. The company operates in two segments: Electric Utilities and Gas Utilities. The Electric Utilities segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 222,000 electric utility customers in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming; and owns and operates 1,394 megawatts of generation capacity and 9,106 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines. The Gas Utilities segment distributes natural gas to approximately 1,116,000 natural gas utility customers in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming; owns and operates 4,663 miles of intrastate gas transmission pipelines; 42,514 miles of gas distribution mains and service lines; seven natural gas storage sites; and approximately 50,000 horsepower of compression and 516 miles of gathering lines. It also constructs and maintains customer owned gas infrastructure facilities for gas transportation customers; and provides appliance repair services to residential utility customers, as well as electrical system construction services to large industrial customers. In addition, the company produces electric power through wind, natural gas, and coal-fired generating plants; and coal at its coal mine located near Gillette, Wyoming. Black Hills Corporation was incorporated in 1941 and is headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota.