Duke Energy (DUK) Competitors

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

Which has better valuation and earnings, NEE or DUK?

NextEra Energy has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Duke Energy. Duke Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NextEra 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
NextEra Energy	$25.27B	5.44	$6.95B	$2.67	25.03
Duke Energy	$30.94B	2.91	$4.52B	$6.03	19.21

Does the media favor NEE or DUK?

In the previous week, NextEra Energy and NextEra Energy both had 46 articles in the media. NextEra Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.53 beat Duke Energy's score of 1.27 indicating that NextEra Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NextEra Energy	36 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Duke Energy	30 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NEE or DUK more profitable?

NextEra Energy has a net margin of 28.06% compared to Duke Energy's net margin of 14.90%. NextEra Energy's return on equity of 11.85% beat Duke Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NextEra Energy	28.06%	11.85%	3.81%
Duke Energy	14.90%	9.50%	2.56%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor NEE or DUK?

NextEra Energy received 163 more outperform votes than Duke Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.60% of users gave NextEra Energy an outperform vote while only 53.86% of users gave Duke Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
NextEra Energy	Outperform Votes 784 71.60%	Underperform Votes 311 28.40%
Duke Energy	Outperform Votes 621 53.86%	Underperform Votes 532 46.14%

Which has more volatility & risk, NEE or DUK?

NextEra Energy has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Duke Energy has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is NEE or DUK a better dividend stock?

NextEra Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. NextEra Energy pays out 84.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Duke Energy pays out 69.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NextEra Energy has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years and Duke Energy has raised its dividend for 20 consecutive years. Duke Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts prefer NEE or DUK?

NextEra Energy presently has a consensus target price of $83.50, suggesting a potential upside of 24.93%. Duke Energy has a consensus target price of $125.81, suggesting a potential upside of 8.60%. Given NextEra Energy's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe NextEra Energy is more favorable than Duke Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NextEra Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Duke Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.56

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of NEE or DUK?

78.7% of NextEra Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.3% of Duke Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of NextEra Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Duke Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

NextEra Energy beats Duke Energy on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.