Eversource Energy (ES) Competitors

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

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, ES or DUK?

Duke Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Eversource Energy. Duke Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Eversource 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
Eversource Energy	$12.69B	1.86	$811.65M	$2.32	27.71
Duke Energy	$30.94B	2.94	$4.52B	$6.03	19.42

Is ES or DUK more profitable?

Duke Energy has a net margin of 14.90% compared to Eversource Energy's net margin of 6.82%. Eversource Energy's return on equity of 10.99% beat Duke Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eversource Energy	6.82%	10.99%	2.79%
Duke Energy	14.90%	9.50%	2.56%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ES or DUK?

Duke Energy received 156 more outperform votes than Eversource Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 53.91% of users gave Duke Energy an outperform vote while only 45.95% of users gave Eversource Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Eversource Energy	Outperform Votes 465 45.95%	Underperform Votes 547 54.05%
Duke Energy	Outperform Votes 621 53.91%	Underperform Votes 531 46.09%

Does the media prefer ES or DUK?

In the previous week, Duke Energy had 34 more articles in the media than Eversource Energy. MarketBeat recorded 50 mentions for Duke Energy and 16 mentions for Eversource Energy. Eversource Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.59 beat Duke Energy's score of 1.29 indicating that Eversource Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Eversource Energy	13 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Duke Energy	33 Very Positive mention(s)	11 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate ES or DUK?

Eversource Energy currently has a consensus target price of $65.78, suggesting a potential upside of 2.33%. Duke Energy has a consensus target price of $126.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.58%. Given Duke Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Duke Energy is more favorable than Eversource Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eversource Energy	3 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Duke Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.56

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

80.0% of Eversource Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.3% of Duke Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Eversource Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Duke Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, ES or DUK?

Eversource Energy has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Duke Energy has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ES or DUK a better dividend stock?

Eversource Energy pays an annual dividend of $3.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Duke Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Eversource Energy pays out 129.7% 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. Eversource Energy has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Duke Energy has raised its dividend for 20 consecutive years.

Summary

Duke Energy beats Eversource Energy on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.