AES (AES) Competitors

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) and AES (NYSE:AES) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Is NRG or AES a better dividend stock?

NRG Energy pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. AES pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. NRG Energy pays out 79.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AES pays out 49.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NRG Energy has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and AES has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. AES is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media favor NRG or AES?

In the previous week, NRG Energy had 2 more articles in the media than AES. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for NRG Energy and 24 mentions for AES. NRG Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.52 beat AES's score of 0.73 indicating that NRG Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NRG Energy	22 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
AES	13 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, NRG or AES?

NRG Energy has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AES has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of NRG or AES?

97.7% of NRG Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.1% of AES shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of NRG Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of AES shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, NRG or AES?

AES has lower revenue, but higher earnings than NRG Energy. AES is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NRG Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NRG Energy	$28.13B	1.13	$1.13B	$2.21	74.21
AES	$12.28B	0.74	$1.68B	$1.42	8.96

Is NRG or AES more profitable?

AES has a net margin of 8.42% compared to NRG Energy's net margin of 1.78%. NRG Energy's return on equity of 88.22% beat AES's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NRG Energy	1.78%	88.22%	6.80%
AES	8.42%	19.02%	3.01%

Do analysts rate NRG or AES?

NRG Energy currently has a consensus target price of $186.92, indicating a potential upside of 13.97%. AES has a consensus target price of $24.67, indicating a potential upside of 93.92%. Given AES's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe AES is more favorable than NRG Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NRG Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92
AES	2 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Summary

NRG Energy beats AES on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.