MGE Energy vs Unitil
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The short version
- MGE Energy is the larger business, with $744M of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $536M for Unitil.
- MGE Energy grew revenue faster (9.9%, against 8.3%).
- MGE Energy kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (23.0% operating margin, against 18.9%).
- Unitil turned more of its sales into free cash flow (−10.0% FCF margin, against −10.8%).
- MGE Energy earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (7.0%, against 5.6%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of MGE Energy’s earnings: a P/E of 18.8x against 17.4x for Unitil.
| Latest fiscal year | MGEE · FY25 | UTL · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $2.7B | $987M |
| Revenue | $744M | $536M |
| Free cash flow | −$80.0M | −$53.8M |
| Net income | $136M | $50.2M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 9.9% | 8.3% |
| 5-year growth | 6.7% | 5.1% |
| Share count change | 0.9% | 4.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 23.0% | 18.9% |
| Net margin | 18.3% | 9.4% |
| FCF margin | −10.8% | −10.0% |
| Return on capital | 7.0% | 5.6% |
| Return on equity | 10.7% | 9.0% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $922M | $911M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | — | — |
| Dividends and buybacks | $67.6M | $30.1M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 18.8x | 17.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 4 |
Revenue
FY16
MGEE $545M
UTL $383M
FY17
MGEE $563M
UTL $406M
FY18
MGEE $560M
UTL $444M
FY19
MGEE $569M
UTL $438M
FY20
MGEE $539M
UTL $419M
FY21
MGEE $607M
UTL $473M
FY22
MGEE $715M
UTL $563M
FY23
MGEE $690M
UTL $557M
FY24
MGEE $677M
UTL $495M
FY25
MGEE $744M
UTL $536M
MGEE
UTL
Operating margin
FY16
MGEE 22.7%
UTL 18.3%
FY17
MGEE 22.1%
UTL 18.6%
FY18
MGEE 20.4%
UTL 16.0%
FY19
MGEE 19.5%
UTL 16.7%
FY20
MGEE 20.4%
UTL 17.1%
FY21
MGEE 19.3%
UTL 16.4%
FY22
MGEE 19.3%
UTL 14.3%
FY23
MGEE 21.2%
UTL 15.6%
FY24
MGEE 21.6%
UTL 18.3%
FY25
MGEE 23.0%
UTL 18.9%
MGEE
UTL
Free cash flow
FY16
MGEE $64.2M
UTL −$29.8M
FY17
MGEE $23.2M
UTL −$33.1M
FY18
MGEE −$59.2M
UTL −$23.9M
FY19
MGEE −$33.6M
UTL −$14.3M
FY20
MGEE −$30.7M
UTL −$46.9M
FY21
MGEE −$15.6M
UTL −$7.2M
FY22
MGEE −$21.3M
UTL −$24.4M
FY23
MGEE $15.5M
UTL −$34.0M
FY24
MGEE $40.9M
UTL −$44.0M
FY25
MGEE −$80.0M
UTL −$53.8M
MGEE
UTL
Return on capital
FY16
MGEE 7.9%
UTL 6.7%
FY17
MGEE 9.6%
UTL 6.4%
FY18
MGEE 7.4%
UTL 7.1%
FY19
MGEE 6.9%
UTL 6.5%
FY20
MGEE 6.2%
UTL 5.8%
FY21
MGEE 7.1%
UTL 6.0%
FY22
MGEE 6.5%
UTL 6.1%
FY23
MGEE 6.4%
UTL 6.1%
FY24
MGEE 6.9%
UTL 5.8%
FY25
MGEE 7.0%
UTL 5.6%
MGEE
UTL
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.