Otter Tail vs Unitil
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Otter Tail and Unitil side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Otter Tail is the larger business, with $1.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $536M for Unitil, about 2.4 times as much.
- Unitil grew revenue faster (8.3%, against −2.3%).
- Otter Tail kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (26.6% operating margin, against 18.9%).
- Otter Tail turned more of its sales into free cash flow (7.5% FCF margin, against −10.0%).
- Otter Tail earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (12.3%, against 5.6%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Otter Tail’s earnings: a P/E of 19.5x against 17.4x for Unitil.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 9 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Otter Tail
OTTR
8/9
5-year growthOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreShare count change
Unitil
UTL
1/9
Revenue growth
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | OTTR FY25 | UTL FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $3.8B | $987M |
| Revenue | $1.3B | $536M |
| Free cash flow | $97.9M | −$53.8M |
| Net income | $276M | $50.2M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −2.3% | 8.3% |
| 5-year growth | 8.0% | 5.1% |
| Share count change | 0.1% | 4.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 26.6% | 18.9% |
| Net margin | 21.2% | 9.4% |
| FCF margin | 7.5% | −10.0% |
| Return on capital | 12.3% | 5.6% |
| Return on equity | 15.6% | 9.0% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $583M | $911M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.3x | — |
| Dividends and buybacks | $88.1M | $30.1M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 19.5x | 17.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 4 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.