Duke Energy (DUK) Competitors

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

Which has higher earnings and valuation, AEP or DUK?

Duke Energy has higher revenue and earnings than American Electric Power. American Electric Power is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Duke 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
American Electric Power	$19.72B	3.09	$2.97B	$6.84	16.67
Duke Energy	$30.36B	3.18	$4.52B	$6.15	20.20

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of AEP or DUK?

75.2% of American Electric Power shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.3% of Duke Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Electric Power shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Duke Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is AEP or DUK more profitable?

American Electric Power has a net margin of 17.68% compared to Duke Energy's net margin of 15.51%. American Electric Power's return on equity of 11.55% beat Duke Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Electric Power	17.68%	11.55%	3.11%
Duke Energy	15.51%	9.85%	2.65%

Is AEP or DUK a better dividend stock?

American Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Duke Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. American Electric Power pays out 54.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Duke Energy pays out 69.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. American Electric Power has raised its dividend for 15 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 longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, AEP or DUK?

American Electric Power has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Duke Energy has a beta of 0.36, indicating that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend AEP or DUK?

American Electric Power currently has a consensus price target of $111.29, indicating a potential downside of 2.40%. Duke Energy has a consensus price target of $130.07, indicating a potential upside of 4.71%. Given Duke Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Duke Energy is more favorable than American Electric Power.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Electric Power	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Duke Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.56

Does the media prefer AEP or DUK?

In the previous week, Duke Energy had 7 more articles in the media than American Electric Power. MarketBeat recorded 46 mentions for Duke Energy and 39 mentions for American Electric Power. American Electric Power's average media sentiment score of 1.43 beat Duke Energy's score of 1.36 indicating that American Electric Power is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American Electric Power	31 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Duke Energy	31 Very Positive mention(s)	10 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Duke Energy beats American Electric Power on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.