IREN (NASDAQ:IREN) vs. AusNet Services (OTCMKTS:SAUNF) Critical Analysis

AusNet Services (OTCMKTS:SAUNF) and IREN (NASDAQ:IREN) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for AusNet Services and IREN, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AusNet Services	0	0	0	0	0.00
IREN	3	3	13	0	2.53

IREN has a consensus target price of $69.36, suggesting a potential upside of 40.13%. Given IREN’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe IREN is more favorable than AusNet Services.

Profitability

This table compares AusNet Services and IREN’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AusNet Services	N/A	N/A	N/A
IREN	86.96%	-3.60%	-2.42%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

41.1% of IREN shares are held by institutional investors. 5.0% of IREN shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares AusNet Services and IREN”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AusNet Services	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
IREN	$501.02 million	28.00	$86.94 million	$1.94	25.51

IREN has higher revenue and earnings than AusNet Services.

Summary

IREN beats AusNet Services on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AusNet Services

AusNet Services Ltd. engages in the production and distribution of electricity and gas. It operates through the following segments: Electricity Distribution, Gas Distribution, Electricity Transmission, and Growth and Future Networks. The Electricity Distribution segment carries electricity from the high voltage transmission network to end users. The Gas Distribution segment handles the natural gas to commercial and residential end users. The Electricity Transmission segment owns and manages the vast majority of the electricity transmission network in Victoria. The Growth and Future Networks segment provides contracted infrastructure asset and energy services, as well as a range of asset and utility services to support the management of electricity, gas, and water networks. The company was founded in June 2005 and is headquartered in Southbank, Australia.

About IREN

IREN Limited, formerly known as Iris Energy Limited, owns and operates bitcoin mining data centers. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.