NRG Energy (NRG) Competitors

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

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in NRG or DUK?

97.7% of NRG Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.3% of Duke Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of NRG Energy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Duke Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend NRG or DUK?

NRG Energy presently has a consensus price target of $160.30, suggesting a potential downside of 6.56%. Duke Energy has a consensus price target of $127.25, suggesting a potential upside of 0.27%. Given Duke Energy's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Duke Energy is more favorable than NRG Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NRG Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.90
Duke Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.59

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, NRG or DUK?

Duke Energy has higher revenue and earnings than NRG Energy. Duke Energy 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
NRG Energy	$28.13B	1.19	$1.13B	$6.20	27.67
Duke Energy	$30.36B	3.25	$4.52B	$6.03	21.05

Does the media favor NRG or DUK?

In the previous week, Duke Energy had 20 more articles in the media than NRG Energy. MarketBeat recorded 48 mentions for Duke Energy and 28 mentions for NRG Energy. NRG Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.42 beat Duke Energy's score of 1.08 indicating that NRG Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NRG Energy	23 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Duke Energy	26 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NRG or DUK a better dividend stock?

NRG Energy pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Duke Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. NRG Energy pays out 28.4% 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. NRG Energy has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Duke Energy has increased 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.

Is NRG or DUK more profitable?

Duke Energy has a net margin of 15.40% compared to NRG Energy's net margin of 4.66%. NRG Energy's return on equity of 73.78% beat Duke Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NRG Energy	4.66%	73.78%	6.59%
Duke Energy	15.40%	9.88%	2.66%

Which has more risk and volatility, NRG or DUK?

NRG Energy has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Duke Energy has a beta of 0.36, indicating that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

NRG Energy beats Duke Energy on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.