Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel (NYSE:ELPC) versus Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Head-To-Head Survey

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) and Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel (NYSE:ELPC) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Duke Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel pays an annual dividend of $0.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Duke Energy pays out 67.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel pays out 45.1% 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. Duke Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

65.3% of Duke Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Duke Energy shares are held by 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Duke Energy and Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Duke Energy	1	6	11	1	2.63
Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel	0	1	0	0	2.00

Duke Energy currently has a consensus price target of $136.50, indicating a potential upside of 16.21%. Given Duke Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Duke Energy is more favorable than Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel.

Volatility & Risk

Duke Energy has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel has a beta of -0.02, suggesting that its stock price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Duke Energy and Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Duke Energy	15.76%	9.98%	2.69%
Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Duke Energy and Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Duke Energy	$30.36 billion	3.01	$4.52 billion	$6.36	18.47
Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel	$4.20 billion	2.35	$545.71 million	$0.51	18.09

Duke Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel. Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Duke Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Duke Energy beats Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel on 17 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – COPEL engages in the generation, transformation, distribution, and sale of electricity to industrial, residential, commercial, rural, and other customers in Brazil. The company operates through Power Generation and Transmission, Power Distribution, GAS, Power Sale, and Holding and Services segments. It is also involved in the piped natural gas distribution. The company operates hydroelectric, wind, and thermoelectric plants; and owns and operates transmission and distribution lines. It holds concessions to distribute electricity in municipalities in the State of Paraná and in the municipality of Porto União in the State of Santa Catarina. Companhia Paranaense de Energia COPEL was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Curitiba, Brazil.