Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) and Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
37.0% of Clearway Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.7% of Avangrid shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Clearway Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Avangrid shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility and Risk
Clearway Energy has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avangrid has a beta of 0.21, suggesting that its stock price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Clearway Energy and Avangrid's top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Clearway Energy | $1.03 billion | 5.39 | $-11,000,000.00 | ($0.10) | -275.80 |
Avangrid | $6.34 billion | 2.25 | $700 million | $2.17 | 21.27 |
Avangrid has higher revenue and earnings than Clearway Energy. Clearway Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Avangrid, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Clearway Energy and Avangrid's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
---|
Clearway Energy | 3.81% | 2.27% | 0.53% |
Avangrid | 10.19% | 4.20% | 1.90% |
Dividends
Clearway Energy pays an annual dividend of $1.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Avangrid pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Clearway Energy pays out -1,270.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Avangrid pays out 81.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Clearway Energy has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Avangrid has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Clearway Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Clearway Energy and Avangrid, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
---|
Clearway Energy | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Avangrid | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.20 |
Clearway Energy presently has a consensus target price of $29.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.61%. Avangrid has a consensus target price of $54.25, suggesting a potential upside of 17.17%. Given Avangrid's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Avangrid is more favorable than Clearway Energy.
Summary
Avangrid beats Clearway Energy on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.