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

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

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Enel Chile	$4.50 billion	1.31	$537.63 million	$0.42	10.11
Duke Energy	$32.24 billion	2.76	$4.97 billion	$6.66	17.14

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 Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Enel Chile and Duke Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

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

Enel Chile currently has a consensus target price of $4.65, indicating a potential upside of 9.54%. Duke Energy has a consensus target price of $137.56, indicating a potential upside of 20.54%. Given Duke Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Duke Energy is more favorable than Enel Chile.

Dividends

Enel Chile pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. Duke Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Enel Chile pays out 61.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Duke Energy pays out 65.2% 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 raised its dividend for 20 consecutive years. Enel Chile is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

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

Profitability

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

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

Volatility & Risk

Enel Chile has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Duke Energy has a beta of 0.37, meaning that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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

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).

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.