Contrasting Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL) (NYSE:ELP) & Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED)

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) and Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL) (NYSE:ELP) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Consolidated Edison and Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Consolidated Edison	12.27%	8.79%	2.89%
Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL)	8.66%	7.77%	3.34%

Risk and Volatility

Consolidated Edison has a beta of 0.37, meaning that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL) has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

66.3% of Consolidated Edison shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.8% of Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL) shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Consolidated Edison shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Consolidated Edison pays an annual dividend of $3.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL) pays an annual dividend of $0.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Consolidated Edison pays out 59.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL) pays out 208.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Consolidated Edison has increased its dividend for 52 consecutive years. Consolidated Edison is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Consolidated Edison and Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL), as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Consolidated Edison	5	5	3	0	1.85
Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL)	0	1	0	0	2.00

Consolidated Edison currently has a consensus target price of $102.54, suggesting a potential upside of 4.39%. Given Consolidated Edison’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Consolidated Edison is more favorable than Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL).

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Consolidated Edison and Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL)”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Consolidated Edison	$15.26 billion	2.32	$1.82 billion	$5.72	17.17
Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL)	$4.20 billion	1.37	$520.91 million	$0.12	80.78

Consolidated Edison has higher revenue and earnings than Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL). Consolidated Edison is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL), indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Consolidated Edison beats Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL) on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Consolidated Edison

Consolidated Edison, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery businesses in the United States. It offers electric services to approximately 3.7 million customers in New York City and Westchester County; gas to approximately 1.1 million customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens, and Westchester County; and steam to approximately 1,530 customers in parts of Manhattan. The company also supplies electricity to approximately 0.3 million customers in southeastern New York and northern New Jersey; and gas to approximately 0.2 million customers in southeastern New York. In addition, it operates 545 circuit miles of transmission lines; 15 transmission substations; 63 distribution substations; 90,051 in-service line transformers; 3,788 pole miles of overhead distribution lines; and 2,314 miles of underground distribution lines, as well as 4,363 miles of mains and 380,870 service lines for natural gas distribution. Further, the company invests in electric and gas transmission projects. It primarily sells electricity to industrial, commercial, residential, and government customers. Consolidated Edison, Inc. was founded in 1823 and is based in New York, New York.

About Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL)

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – COPEL engages in the generation, transformation, distribution, and sale of electricity to industrial, residential, commercial, rural, and other customers in Brazil. The company operates through Power Generation and Transmission, Power Distribution, Power Sale, and Gas segments. It is also involved in the piped natural gas distribution. The company operates hydroelectric, wind, and thermoelectric plants; and owns and operates transmission and distribution lines. It holds concessions to distribute electricity in municipalities in the State of Paraná and in the municipality of Porto União in the State of Santa Catarina. Companhia Paranaense de Energia COPEL was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Curitiba, Brazil.Companhia Paranaense de Energia – COPEL Operates as a subsidiary of Governo Do Estado Do Parana.