Head to Head Survey: MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) vs. Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC)

MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) and Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for MGE Energy and Exelon, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MGE Energy	1	1	1	0	2.00
Exelon	1	13	4	0	2.17

MGE Energy presently has a consensus target price of $77.50, suggesting a potential upside of 2.03%. Exelon has a consensus target price of $50.07, suggesting a potential upside of 17.65%. Given Exelon’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Exelon is more favorable than MGE Energy.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

52.6% of MGE Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.9% of Exelon shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of MGE Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Exelon shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares MGE Energy and Exelon’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MGE Energy	19.45%	11.10%	4.74%
Exelon	10.99%	9.81%	2.43%

Risk & Volatility

MGE Energy has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Exelon has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

MGE Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Exelon pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. MGE Energy pays out 49.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Exelon pays out 61.5% 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. MGE Energy has raised its dividend for 49 consecutive years and Exelon has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares MGE Energy and Exelon”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MGE Energy	$743.65 million	3.86	$135.89 million	$4.07	18.66
Exelon	$25.33 billion	1.73	$2.77 billion	$2.73	15.59

Exelon has higher revenue and earnings than MGE Energy. Exelon is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than MGE Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

MGE Energy beats Exelon on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MGE Energy

MGE Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company primarily in the United States. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility Operations; Regulated Gas Utility Operations; Nonregulated Energy Operations; Transmission Investments; and All Other segments. The company generates, purchases, and distributes electricity and natural gas in Wisconsin and Iowa; owns and leases electric generating capacity; and plans, constructs, operates, maintains, and expands transmission facilities to provide transmission power services. It generates electricity from coal-fired, gas-fired, and renewable energy sources. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated 835 miles of overhead electric distribution lines; 1,330 miles of underground electric distribution cables; 49 substations with an installed capacity of 1.2 million kVA; and gas facilities, including 3,066 miles of distribution mains, as well as supplied electric service to approximately 163,000 customers. MGE Energy, Inc. founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.

About Exelon

Exelon Corporation, a utility services holding company, engages in the energy distribution and transmission businesses in the United States and Canada. The company is involved in the purchase and regulated retail sale of electricity and natural gas, transmission and distribution of electricity, and distribution of natural gas to retail customers. It also offers support services, including legal, human resources, information technology, supply management, financial, engineering, customer operations, transmission and distribution planning, asset management, system operations, and power procurement services. It serves distribution utilities, municipalities, and financial institutions, as well as commercial, industrial, governmental, and residential customers. Exelon Corporation was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.