Financial Review: Pampa Energia (PAM) versus The Competition

Pampa Energia (NYSE:PAM) is one of 105 public companies in the “Electric Utilities” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Pampa Energia to similar businesses based on the strength of its dividends, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Pampa Energia and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pampa Energia	$2.62 billion	$377.00 million	5.09
Pampa Energia Competitors	$1,572.99 billion	$1.54 billion	20.08

Pampa Energia’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Pampa Energia. Pampa Energia is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Risk and Volatility

Pampa Energia has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pampa Energia’s competitors have a beta of -2.25, meaning that their average share price is 325% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Pampa Energia and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pampa Energia	0	3	1	0	2.25
Pampa Energia Competitors	1429	6557	5533	145	2.32

Pampa Energia currently has a consensus target price of $98.50, indicating a potential upside of 54.44%. As a group, “Electric Utilities” companies have a potential upside of 4.11%. Given Pampa Energia’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Pampa Energia is more favorable than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Pampa Energia and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pampa Energia	25.84%	17.37%	9.17%
Pampa Energia Competitors	14.17%	9.68%	3.20%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.8% of Pampa Energia shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.0% of shares of all “Electric Utilities” companies are owned by institutional investors. 55.5% of Pampa Energia shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of shares of all “Electric Utilities” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Pampa Energia competitors beat Pampa Energia on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

About Pampa Energia

Pampa Energía S.A. operates as an integrated power company in Argentina. The company operates through Electricity Generation, Oil and Gas, Petrochemicals, and Holding and Other Business segments. It generates electricity through thermal plants, hydroelectric plants, and wind farms with a 5,332 megawatt (MW) installed capacity. The company also explores for and produces oil and gas in the provinces of Neuquén and Río Negro. In addition, it produces petrochemicals, such as styrene, synthetic rubber, and polystyrene. Further, the company operates and maintains a 22,391 km high-voltage electricity transmission network in Argentina. Additionally, it holds a concession for the transportation of natural gas with 9,248 km of gas pipelines in the center, west, and south of Argentina; and processes and sells natural gas liquids in Bahía Blanca in the Province of Buenos Aires, as well as offers related advisory services. The company was formerly known as Pampa Holding S.A. and changed its name to Pampa Energía S.A. in September 2008. Pampa Energía S.A. was incorporated in 1945 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.