Financial Review: Iberdrola (OTCMKTS:IBDRY) & IDACORP (NYSE:IDA)

IDACORP (NYSE:IDA) and Iberdrola (OTCMKTS:IBDRY) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares IDACORP and Iberdrola’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
IDACORP	17.59%	9.35%	3.27%
Iberdrola	12.10%	8.99%	3.42%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

89.1% of IDACORP shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Iberdrola shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of IDACORP shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

IDACORP has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Iberdrola has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for IDACORP and Iberdrola, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
IDACORP	1	1	8	0	2.70
Iberdrola	1	3	2	1	2.43

IDACORP currently has a consensus price target of $137.78, indicating a potential upside of 3.78%. Given IDACORP’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe IDACORP is more favorable than Iberdrola.

Dividends

IDACORP pays an annual dividend of $3.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Iberdrola pays an annual dividend of $1.77 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. IDACORP pays out 60.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Iberdrola pays out 49.0% 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. IDACORP has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. IDACORP is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares IDACORP and Iberdrola”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
IDACORP	$1.83 billion	3.93	$289.17 million	$5.82	22.81
Iberdrola	$48.42 billion	3.12	$6.07 billion	$3.61	25.02

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

Summary

IDACORP beats Iberdrola on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About IDACORP

IDACORP, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, purchase, and sale of electric energy in the United States. The company operates 17 hydropower generating plants located in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon; three natural gas-fired plants in southern Idaho; and interests in two coal-fired steam electric generating plants located in Wyoming and Nevada. As of December 31, 2023, it had approximately 4,762 pole-miles of high-voltage transmission lines; 23 step-up transmission substations located at power plants; 21 transmission substations; 11 switching stations; 30 mixed-use transmission and distribution substations; 186 energized distribution substations; and 29,714 pole-miles of distribution lines, and 131 MW of battery storage, as well as provides electric utility services to approximately 633,000 retail customers in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. The company serves commercial and industrial customers, which involved in food processing, electronics and general manufacturing, agriculture, health care, government, and education. It also invests in housing and other real estate tax credit investments. IDACORP, Inc. was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.

About Iberdrola

Iberdrola, S.A. engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and supply of electricity in Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, and Australia. It generates electricity from renewable sources, such as onshore and offshore wind, hydro, photovoltaic, combined cycle gas, and conventional nuclear, as well as through batteries. The company is also involved in the purchase and sale of electricity and gas on wholesale markets; energy retail supply activities, such as gas and electricity, and other products and services, including hydrogen, as well as non-renewable generation; and production of green hydrogen. It has a total installed capacity of 62,871 MW. In addition, the company offers heat pumps, self-consumption, electric mobility, solar, etc. services to residential customers; and management of energy facilities, as well as supplies green H2, industrial heat, etc. to industrial customers. Iberdrola, S.A. was founded in 1840 and is based in Bilbao, Spain.