Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) vs. World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) Critical Review

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) and World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) are both energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Cameco and World Kinect’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cameco	10.20%	7.59%	5.23%
World Kinect	-0.43%	11.24%	2.40%

Volatility & Risk

Cameco has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, World Kinect has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Cameco and World Kinect”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cameco	$2.49 billion	15.23	$421.96 million	$0.59	147.67
World Kinect	$36.92 billion	0.05	-$614.40 million	($3.21)	-10.97

Cameco has higher earnings, but lower revenue than World Kinect. World Kinect is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cameco, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Cameco pays an annual dividend of $0.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. World Kinect pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Cameco pays out 28.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. World Kinect pays out -28.7% 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. Cameco has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and World Kinect has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. World Kinect is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Cameco and World Kinect, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cameco	0	5	12	0	2.71
World Kinect	2	0	0	1	2.00

Cameco presently has a consensus target price of $148.68, suggesting a potential upside of 70.66%. World Kinect has a consensus target price of $30.00, suggesting a potential downside of 14.82%. Given Cameco’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Cameco is more favorable than World Kinect.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

70.2% of Cameco shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.1% of World Kinect shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Cameco shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of World Kinect shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

About Cameco

Cameco Corporation provides uranium for the generation of electricity. It operates through Uranium, Fuel Services, Westinghouse segments. The Uranium segment is involved in the exploration for, mining, and milling, purchase, and sale of uranium concentrate. The Fuel Services segment engages in the refining, conversion, and fabrication of uranium concentrate, as well as the purchase and sale of conversion services. This segment also produces CANDU reactor fuel bundles and other reactor components. The company offers nuclear fuel processing services. The Westinghouse segment engages in the manufacture of nuclear reactor technology original equipment. This segment provides products and services to commercial utilities and government agencies; and outage and maintenance services, engineering support, instrumentation and controls equipment, plant modification, and components and parts to nuclear reactors. It sells its uranium and fuel services to nuclear utilities in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Cameco Corporation was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Saskatoon, Canada.

About World Kinect

World Kinect Corporation operates as an energy management company in the United States, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. This segment also offers fuel management, price risk management, ground handling, dispatch services, and trip planning services, such as flight planning and scheduling, weather reports and overflight permits; payment and processing services; and operates a web-based marketplace platform. The Land segment offers fuel, lubricants, heating oil, and related products and services to retail petroleum operators, as well as industrial, commercial, residential and government customers. This segment also provides sustainability solutions, such as renewable fuel products, carbon management, and renewable energy solutions; distributes fuel under long-term contracts to branded and unbranded distributors, convenience stores, and retail fuel outlets operated by third parties; distributes heating oil and unbranded fuel; and transportation logistics. The Marine segment markets fuel, lubricants, and related products and services to international container, dry bulk and tanker fleets, commercial cruise lines, yachts and time charter operators, offshore rig owners and operators, the U.S. and foreign governments, and other fuel suppliers. This segment also offers marine fuel-related services include management services to procurement of fuel, price risk management, cost control, quality control, and claims management services; and engages in the fueling of vessels, and transportation and delivery of fuel and fuel-related products. The company was formerly known as World Fuel Services Corporation and changed its name to World Kinect Corporation in June 2023. World Kinect Corporation was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.