Reviewing Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) (NYSE:EDN) & Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK)

Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) (NYSE:EDN) and Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) and Duke Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)	0	3	0	0	2.00
Duke Energy	0	8	9	0	2.53

Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) currently has a consensus target price of $36.00, suggesting a potential upside of 29.56%. Duke Energy has a consensus target price of $138.07, suggesting a potential upside of 11.49%. Given Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) is more favorable than Duke Energy.

Profitability

This table compares Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) and Duke Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)	10.25%	13.79%	5.51%
Duke Energy	15.49%	9.73%	2.64%

Volatility and Risk

Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) has a beta of 1.44, meaning that its stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Duke Energy has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

1.6% of Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.3% of Duke Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Duke Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) and Duke Energy”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)	$2.44 billion	0.51	$191.39 million	$5.40	5.15
Duke Energy	$32.24 billion	2.99	$4.97 billion	$6.53	18.97

Duke Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor). Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Duke Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Duke Energy beats Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)

Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima is involved in the distribution and sale of electricity in Argentina. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima operates as a subsidiary of Empresa de Energía del Cono Sur S.A..

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest. It generates electricity through coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, solar and wind sources, renewables, and nuclear fuel. This segment also engages in the wholesale of electricity to municipalities, electric cooperative utilities, and load-serving entities. The GU&I segment distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and power generation natural gas customers; and invests in pipeline transmission projects, renewable natural gas projects, and natural gas storage facilities. The company was formerly known as Duke Energy Holding Corp. and changed its name to Duke Energy Corporation in April 2006. Duke Energy Corporation was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.