AES (AES) Competitors

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

Is AES or NRG 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
AES	8.42%	19.02%	3.01%
NRG Energy	1.78%	88.22%	6.80%

Is AES or NRG a better dividend stock?

AES pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. NRG Energy pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. AES pays out 49.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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 has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and NRG Energy has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. AES is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, AES or NRG?

AES has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NRG Energy has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to AES or NRG?

In the previous week, NRG Energy had 14 more articles in the media than AES. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for NRG Energy and 12 mentions for AES. NRG Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.31 beat AES's score of 0.19 indicating that NRG Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AES	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
NRG Energy	22 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher valuation and earnings, AES or NRG?

AES has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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
AES	$12.28B	0.84	$1.68B	$1.42	10.25
NRG Energy	$28.13B	1.17	$1.13B	$2.21	76.98

Do analysts prefer AES or NRG?

AES currently has a consensus price target of $23.91, suggesting a potential upside of 64.20%. NRG Energy has a consensus price target of $197.46, suggesting a potential upside of 16.07%. Given AES's higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe AES is more favorable than NRG Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AES	3 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43
NRG Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

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

93.1% of AES shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.7% of NRG Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of AES shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of NRG Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

NRG Energy beats AES on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.