Comparing Enel Chile (NYSE:ENIC) & Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK)

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) and Enel Chile (NYSE:ENIC) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Duke Energy has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Enel Chile has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Duke Energy and Enel Chile’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Duke Energy	15.78%	9.78%	2.67%
Enel Chile	12.30%	10.20%	4.50%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

65.3% of Duke Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.2% of Enel Chile shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Duke Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Duke Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Enel Chile pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Duke Energy pays out 65.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Enel Chile pays out 61.9% 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. Duke Energy has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years. Enel Chile is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Duke Energy and Enel Chile”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Duke Energy	$32.24 billion	2.75	$4.97 billion	$6.66	17.07
Enel Chile	$4.66 billion	1.23	$537.63 million	$0.42	9.85

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Duke Energy and Enel Chile, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Duke Energy	0	8	10	0	2.56
Enel Chile	0	4	1	1	2.50

Duke Energy presently has a consensus price target of $136.62, suggesting a potential upside of 20.19%. Enel Chile has a consensus price target of $4.65, suggesting a potential upside of 12.45%. Given Duke Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Duke Energy is more favorable than Enel Chile.

Summary

Duke Energy beats Enel Chile on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Enel Chile

Enel Chile S.A., an electricity utility company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Chile. The company operates through Generation, and Distribution and Networks Segments. It generates electricity through various sources, such as hydroelectric, thermal, wind, solar, and geothermal power plants. It distributes electricity in various municipalities of the Santiago metropolitan region. The company also engages in the sale and transportation of natural gas, and provision of engineering consulting services. It serves residential, commercial, industrial, and other customers. The company was formerly known as Enersis Chile S.A. and changed its name to Enel Chile S.A. in October 2016. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile. Enel Chile S.A. (SNSE:ENELCHILE) operates as a subsidiary of Enel SpA (BIT:ENEL).