Head to Head Analysis: Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) versus Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE:HE)

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) and Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE:HE) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Consolidated Edison and Hawaiian Electric Industries”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Consolidated Edison	$16.92 billion	2.40	$2.02 billion	$5.65	19.49
Hawaiian Electric Industries	$3.09 billion	0.88	$126.28 million	$0.71	22.27

Consolidated Edison has higher revenue and earnings than Hawaiian Electric Industries. Consolidated Edison is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hawaiian Electric Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Consolidated Edison has a beta of 0.34, meaning that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hawaiian Electric Industries has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

66.3% of Consolidated Edison shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.9% of Hawaiian Electric Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Consolidated Edison shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Hawaiian Electric Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Consolidated Edison and Hawaiian Electric Industries, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Consolidated Edison	5	7	3	0	1.87
Hawaiian Electric Industries	1	2	0	1	2.25

Consolidated Edison currently has a consensus price target of $108.00, suggesting a potential downside of 1.94%. Hawaiian Electric Industries has a consensus price target of $13.25, suggesting a potential downside of 16.21%. Given Consolidated Edison’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Consolidated Edison is more favorable than Hawaiian Electric Industries.

Profitability

This table compares Consolidated Edison and Hawaiian Electric Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Consolidated Edison	11.95%	8.50%	2.82%
Hawaiian Electric Industries	4.09%	9.82%	1.75%

Summary

Consolidated Edison beats Hawaiian Electric Industries on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Consolidated Edison

Consolidated Edison, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery businesses in the United States. It offers electric services to approximately 3.7 million customers in New York City and Westchester County; gas to approximately 1.1 million customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens, and Westchester County; and steam to approximately 1,530 customers in parts of Manhattan. The company also supplies electricity to approximately 0.3 million customers in southeastern New York and northern New Jersey; and gas to approximately 0.2 million customers in southeastern New York. In addition, it operates 545 circuit miles of transmission lines; 15 transmission substations; 63 distribution substations; 90,051 in-service line transformers; 3,788 pole miles of overhead distribution lines; and 2,314 miles of underground distribution lines, as well as 4,363 miles of mains and 380,870 service lines for natural gas distribution. Further, the company invests in electric and gas transmission projects. It primarily sells electricity to industrial, commercial, residential, and government customers. Consolidated Edison, Inc. was founded in 1823 and is based in New York, New York.

About Hawaiian Electric Industries

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the electric utility businesses in the United States. It operates in three segments: Electric Utility, Bank, and Other. The Electric Utility segment engages in the production, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, and Molokai. Its renewable energy sources and potential sources include wind, solar, photovoltaic, geothermal, wave, hydroelectric, municipal waste, and other biofuels. This segment serves suburban communities, resorts, the United States Armed Forces installations, and agricultural operations. The Bank segment operates a federally chartered savings bank that offers banking and other financial services to consumers and businesses, including savings and checking accounts; and loans comprising residential and commercial real estate, residential mortgage, construction and development, multifamily residential and commercial real estate, consumer, and commercial loans. The Other segment invests in non-regulated renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure in the State of Hawaii. Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.