Reviewing Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) and NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE)

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) and NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Dividends

Evergy pays an annual dividend of $2.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. NextEra Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.49 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Evergy pays out 61.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NextEra Energy pays out 44.9% 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. Evergy has raised its dividend for 20 consecutive years and NextEra Energy has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years.

Volatility & Risk

Evergy has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NextEra Energy has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Evergy and NextEra Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Evergy	$5.96 billion	3.42	$855.60 million	$4.50	19.63
NextEra Energy	$27.41 billion	6.63	$6.83 billion	$5.55	15.62

NextEra Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Evergy. NextEra Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Evergy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Evergy and NextEra Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Evergy	15.19%	9.20%	2.76%
NextEra Energy	40.37%	12.27%	3.69%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

87.2% of Evergy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.7% of NextEra Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Evergy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of NextEra Energy shares are held 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Evergy and NextEra Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Evergy	0	3	10	0	2.77
NextEra Energy	0	5	16	1	2.82

Evergy currently has a consensus target price of $90.69, suggesting a potential upside of 2.68%. NextEra Energy has a consensus target price of $97.80, suggesting a potential upside of 12.79%. Given NextEra Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe NextEra Energy is more favorable than Evergy.

Summary

NextEra Energy beats Evergy on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Evergy

Evergy, Inc. is an investor-owned electric utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers in Kansas and Missouri. Its operations include power plants and the infrastructure needed to deliver electricity across its service territory. The company was formed in 2018 through the merger of Westar Energy and Great Plains Energy, the parent company of Kansas City Power & Light. Evergy is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, and serves communities across the two states.

About NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy, Inc. is an energy company whose businesses include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility, and NextEra Energy Resources, a developer and operator of energy infrastructure. FPL generates, transmits and distributes electricity to customers across Florida. NextEra Energy Resources develops and operates projects in North America, including wind and solar generation, battery storage, and natural gas and nuclear facilities. The company also invests in transmission infrastructure and provides energy-related services.