Reviewing AES (NYSE:AES) and Commerce Energy Group (OTCMKTS:CMNR)

AES (NYSE:AES) and Commerce Energy Group (OTCMKTS:CMNR) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.1% of AES shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of AES shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Commerce Energy Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares AES and Commerce Energy Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AES	8.42%	19.02%	3.01%
Commerce Energy Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares AES and Commerce Energy Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AES	$12.09 billion	0.80	$1.68 billion	$1.60	8.54
Commerce Energy Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

AES has higher revenue and earnings than Commerce Energy Group.

Risk and Volatility

AES has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Commerce Energy Group has a beta of -3.17, suggesting that its stock price is 417% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for AES and Commerce Energy Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AES	2	4	7	1	2.50
Commerce Energy Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

AES currently has a consensus price target of $24.00, suggesting a potential upside of 75.71%. Given AES’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe AES is more favorable than Commerce Energy Group.

Summary

AES beats Commerce Energy Group on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AES

The AES Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified power generation and utility company in the United States and internationally. The company owns and/or operates power plants to generate and sell power to customers, such as utilities, industrial users, and other intermediaries; owns and/or operates utilities to generate or purchase, distribute, transmit, and sell electricity to end-user customers in the residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors; and generates and sells electricity on the wholesale market. It uses various fuels and technologies to generate electricity, such as coal, gas, hydro, wind, solar, and biomass, as well as renewables comprising energy storage and landfill gas. The company owns and/or operates a generation portfolio of approximately 34,596 megawatts and distributes power to 2.6 million customers. The company was formerly known as Applied Energy Services, Inc. and changed its name to The AES Corporation in April 2000. The AES Corporation was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

About Commerce Energy Group

Commerce Energy Group Inc. through its subsidiaries provides electric power and natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers in California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Ohio. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Costa Mesa, California.