Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) and MGE Energy (NASDAQ:MGEE) Financial Review

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

Dividends

MGE Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Korea Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. MGE Energy pays out 49.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Korea Electric Power pays out 12.1% 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 increased its dividend for 49 consecutive years. Korea Electric Power is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares MGE Energy and Korea Electric Power”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MGE Energy	$743.65 million	3.75	$135.89 million	$4.07	18.12
Korea Electric Power	$68.57 billion	0.19	$5.98 billion	$4.29	2.41

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

Profitability

This table compares MGE Energy and Korea Electric Power’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%
Korea Electric Power	8.15%	15.70%	3.06%

Risk & Volatility

MGE Energy has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Korea Electric Power has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

52.6% of MGE Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of MGE Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Korea Electric Power shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for MGE Energy and Korea Electric Power, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MGE Energy	1	3	1	0	2.00
Korea Electric Power	2	3	0	0	1.60

MGE Energy presently has a consensus target price of $76.25, indicating a potential upside of 3.42%. Given MGE Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe MGE Energy is more favorable than Korea Electric Power.

Summary

MGE Energy beats Korea Electric Power on 9 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 Korea Electric Power

Korea Electric Power Corporation, an integrated electric utility company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in South Korea and internationally. The company operates through Transmission and Distribution, Nuclear Power Generation, Thermal Power Generation, and Others segments. It generates power from nuclear, coal, oil, liquefied natural gas, internal combustion, combined-cycle, integrated gasification combined cycle, hydro, wind, solar, fuel cell, biogas, and other sources. As of December 31, 2022, the company had a total of 770 generation units, including nuclear, thermal, hydroelectric, and internal combustion units with an installed generation capacity of 82,723 megawatts; transmission system consisted of 35,451 circuit kilometers of lines of 765 kilovolts and others, including high-voltage direct current lines, as well as 895 substations with an installed transformer capacity of 347,426 megavolt-amperes; and distribution system included 139,265 megavolt-amperes of transformer capacity and 10,084,051 units of support with a total line length of 535,241 circuit kilometers. The company provides electricity to residential, commercial, educational, industrial, agricultural, street lighting, and overnight power usage. It also provides engineering and construction services for utility plant and others; utility plant maintenance, electric power information technology, resources development, facility maintenance, electric meter reading, and security services; and engages in nuclear fuel, fly ashes recycling, utility plants construction and operation, and wood pellet utilization businesses. Korea Electric Power Corporation was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Naju-si, South Korea.