United Utilities Group (LSE:UU.) - Share price, News & Analysis

UU. fundamental analysis
Snowflake Score
Valuation	0/6
Future Growth	3/6
Past Performance	1/6
Financial Health	1/6
Dividends	3/6

UU. Stock Overview

United Utilities Group PLC provides water and wastewater services in the United Kingdom.

Rewards

Earnings are forecast to grow 24.8% per year

Risk Analysis

Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow

Dividend of 3.83% is not well covered by earnings or forecast to be in the next 3 years

Profit margins (4.1%) are lower than last year (6.1%)

United Utilities Group Competitors

BT Group

LSE:BT.A

UK£18.4b

Price History & Performance

Summary of all time highs, changes and price drops for United Utilities Group
Historical stock prices
Current Share Price	UK£11.30
52 Week High	UK£11.87
52 Week Low	UK£9.62
Beta	0.20
1 Month Change	0.76%
3 Month Change	6.45%
1 Year Change	13.87%
3 Year Change	45.17%
5 Year Change	9.18%
Change since IPO	232.35%

Shareholder Returns

	UU.	GB Water Utilities	GB Market
7D	1.1%	0.9%	-0.4%
1Y	13.9%	4.7%	-3.9%

Return vs Industry: UU. exceeded the UK Water Utilities industry which returned 3.4% over the past year.

Return vs Market: UU. exceeded the UK Market which returned -5% over the past year.

Price Volatility

Is UU.'s price volatile compared to industry and market?
UU. volatility
UU. Average Weekly Movement	3.7%
Water Utilities Industry Average Movement	3.9%
Market Average Movement	6.2%
10% most volatile stocks in GB Market	11.6%
10% least volatile stocks in GB Market	3.2%

Stable Share Price: UU. is less volatile than 75% of UK stocks over the past 3 months, typically moving +/- 4% a week.

Volatility Over Time: UU.'s weekly volatility (4%) has been stable over the past year.

About the Company

Founded	Employees	CEO	Website
2008	5,000	Steve Mogford	https://www.unitedutilities.com

United Utilities Group PLC provides water and wastewater services in the United Kingdom. It is also involved in renewable energy generation, corporate trustee, financing, and property management activities; and the provision of waste treatment, consulting, and project management services. The company operates 42,000 kilometers of water pipes; 78,000 km of wastewater pipes; 567 wastewater treatment works; and 88 water treatment works.

United Utilities Group Fundamentals Summary

How do United Utilities Group's earnings and revenue compare to its market cap?
UU. fundamental statistics
Market Cap	UK£7.71b
Earnings (TTM)	UK£75.20m
Revenue (TTM)	UK£1.85b

102.5x

P/E Ratio

4.2x

P/S Ratio

Is UU. overvalued?

See Fair Value and valuation analysis

Earnings & Revenue

Key profitability statistics from the latest earnings report
UU. income statement (TTM)
Revenue	UK£1.85b
Cost of Revenue	UK£164.10m
Gross Profit	UK£1.68b
Other Expenses	UK£1.61b
Earnings	UK£75.20m

Last Reported Earnings

Sep 30, 2021

Next Earnings Date

May 26, 2022

Earnings per share (EPS)	0.11
Gross Margin	91.11%
Net Profit Margin	4.07%
Debt/Equity Ratio	308.7%

How did UU. perform over the long term?

See historical performance and comparison

Dividends

3.8%

Current Dividend Yield

393%

Payout Ratio

Valuation

Is United Utilities Group undervalued compared to its fair value and its price relative to the market?

Valuation Score

0/6

Valuation Score 0/6

Below Fair Value
Significantly Below Fair Value
PE vs Industry
PE vs Market
PEG Ratio
PB vs Industry

102.47x

Price to Earnings (PE) ratio

Share Price vs. Fair Value

Below Fair Value: UU. (£11.3) is trading above our estimate of fair value (£7.63)

Significantly Below Fair Value: UU. is trading above our estimate of fair value.

Price To Earnings Ratio

PE vs Industry: UU. is poor value based on its PE Ratio (102.5x) compared to the European Water Utilities industry average (31x).

PE vs Market: UU. is poor value based on its PE Ratio (102.5x) compared to the UK market (15.3x).

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

PEG Ratio: UU. is poor value based on its PEG Ratio (4.1x)

Price to Book Ratio

PB vs Industry: UU. is overvalued based on its PB Ratio (2.8x) compared to the XE Water Utilities industry average (1.4x).

Future Growth

How is United Utilities Group forecast to perform in the next 1 to 3 years based on estimates from 11 analysts?

Future Growth Score

3/6

Future Growth Score 3/6

Earnings vs Savings Rate
Earnings vs Market
High Growth Earnings
Revenue vs Market
High Growth Revenue
Future ROE

24.8%

Forecasted annual earnings growth

Earnings and Revenue Growth Forecasts

Analyst Future Growth Forecasts

Earnings vs Savings Rate: UU.'s forecast earnings growth (24.8% per year) is above the savings rate (0.9%).

Earnings vs Market: UU.'s earnings (24.8% per year) are forecast to grow faster than the UK market (11.3% per year).

High Growth Earnings: earnings are expected to grow significantly over the next 3 years.

Revenue vs Market: UU.'s revenue (2% per year) is forecast to grow slower than the UK market (4.2% per year).

High Growth Revenue: UU.'s revenue (2% per year) is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.

Earnings per Share Growth Forecasts

Future Return on Equity

Future ROE: UU.'s Return on Equity is forecast to be low in 3 years time (13.9%).

Past Performance

How has United Utilities Group performed over the past 5 years?

Past Performance Score

1/6

Past Performance Score 1/6

Quality Earnings
Growing Profit Margin
Earnings Trend
Accelerating Growth
Earnings vs Industry
High ROE

-17.9%

Historical annual earnings growth

Earnings and Revenue History

Quality Earnings: UU. has high quality earnings.

Growing Profit Margin: UU.'s current net profit margins (4.1%) are lower than last year (6.1%).

Past Earnings Growth Analysis

Earnings Trend: UU.'s earnings have declined by 17.9% per year over the past 5 years.

Accelerating Growth: UU.'s has had negative earnings growth over the past year, so it can't be compared to its 5-year average.

Earnings vs Industry: UU. had negative earnings growth (-31.8%) over the past year, making it difficult to compare to the Water Utilities industry average (-31.8%).

Return on Equity

High ROE: UU.'s Return on Equity (2.8%) is considered low.

Financial Health

How is United Utilities Group's financial position?

Financial Health Score

1/6

Financial Health Score 1/6

Short Term Liabilities
Long Term Liabilities
Debt Level
Reducing Debt
Debt Coverage
Interest Coverage

Financial Position Analysis

Short Term Liabilities: UU.'s short term assets (£950.8M) do not cover its short term liabilities (£1.1B).

Long Term Liabilities: UU.'s short term assets (£950.8M) do not cover its long term liabilities (£10.7B).

Debt to Equity History and Analysis

Debt Level: UU.'s net debt to equity ratio (284.6%) is considered high.

Reducing Debt: UU.'s debt to equity ratio has increased from 273.9% to 308.7% over the past 5 years.

Debt Coverage: UU.'s debt is not well covered by operating cash flow (11.1%).

Interest Coverage: UU.'s interest payments on its debt are well covered by EBIT (3.9x coverage).

Balance Sheet

Dividend

What is United Utilities Group current dividend yield, its reliability and sustainability?

Dividend Score

3/6

Dividend Score 3/6

Notable Dividend
High Dividend
Stable Dividend
Growing Dividend
Earnings Coverage
Future Dividend Coverage

3.83%

Current Dividend Yield

Dividend Yield vs Market

Notable Dividend: UU.'s dividend (3.83%) is higher than the bottom 25% of dividend payers in the UK market (1.83%).

High Dividend: UU.'s dividend (3.83%) is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the UK market (4.91%).

Stability and Growth of Payments

Stable Dividend: UU.'s dividends per share have been stable in the past 10 years.

Growing Dividend: UU.'s dividend payments have increased over the past 10 years.

Earnings Payout to Shareholders

Earnings Coverage: With its high payout ratio (392.9%), UU.'s dividend payments are not well covered by earnings.

Cash Payout to Shareholders

Cash Flow Coverage: With its high cash payout ratio (94%), UU.'s dividend payments are not well covered by cash flows.

Discover strong dividend paying companies

Management

How experienced are the management team and are they aligned to shareholders interests?

3.9yrs

Average board tenure

CEO

Steve Mogford (64 yo)

11.17yrs

Tenure

UK£2,940,000

Compensation

Mr. Steven Lewis Mogford, also known as Steve, has been the Chief Executive Officer of United Utilities Group PLC since March 31, 2011 and serves as its Executive Director from January 5, 2011. He has been...

CEO Compensation Analysis

Compensation vs Market: Steve's total compensation ($USD3.66M) is below average for companies of similar size in the UK market ($USD5.33M).

Compensation vs Earnings: Steve's compensation has been consistent with company performance over the past year.

Board Members

Experienced Board: UU.'s board of directors are considered experienced (3.9 years average tenure).

Ownership

Who are the major shareholders and have insiders been buying or selling?

Insider Trading Volume

Insider Buying: Insufficient data to determine if insiders have bought more shares than they have sold in the past 3 months.

Recent Insider Transactions

Ownership Breakdown

Dilution of Shares: Shareholders have not been meaningfully diluted in the past year.

Data	Last Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis	2022/05/20 00:00
End of Day Share Price	2022/05/20 00:00
Earnings	2021/09/30
Annual Earnings	2021/03/31