Reviewing AES (NYSE:AES) and Power Assets (OTCMKTS:HGKGY)

AES (NYSE:AES) and Power Assets (OTCMKTS:HGKGY) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares AES and Power Assets’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AES	10.78%	22.66%	3.84%
Power Assets	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.1% of AES shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of AES shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Power Assets shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

AES pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Power Assets pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. AES pays out 37.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AES has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Volatility and Risk

AES has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Power Assets has a beta of 0.3, indicating that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for AES and Power Assets, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AES	0	8	1	0	2.11
Power Assets	0	0	0	0	0.00

AES presently has a consensus target price of $15.63, indicating a potential upside of 6.62%. Given AES’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe AES is more favorable than Power Assets.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares AES and Power Assets”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AES	$12.23 billion	0.85	$910.00 million	$1.87	7.84
Power Assets	$98.89 million	164.21	$800.08 million	N/A	N/A

AES has higher revenue and earnings than Power Assets.

Summary

AES beats Power Assets on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AES

The AES Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified power generation and utility company in the United States and internationally. The company owns and/or operates power plants to generate and sell power to customers, such as utilities, industrial users, and other intermediaries; owns and/or operates utilities to generate or purchase, distribute, transmit, and sell electricity to end-user customers in the residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors; and generates and sells electricity on the wholesale market. It uses various fuels and technologies to generate electricity, such as coal, gas, hydro, wind, solar, and biomass, as well as renewables comprising energy storage and landfill gas. The company owns and/or operates a generation portfolio of approximately 34,596 megawatts and distributes power to 2.6 million customers. The company was formerly known as Applied Energy Services, Inc. and changed its name to The AES Corporation in April 2000. The AES Corporation was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

About Power Assets

Power Assets Holdings Limited, an investment holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mainland China, and internationally. It generates energy from thermal, renewable energy, and waste sources. The company also transmits and distributes oil and gas; and provides trust administration and management services. It has a generation capacity of 879 MW renewable energy/energy from waste, 5,262 MW gas fired, and 3,567 MW coal/oil fired; and operates 114,900 km of gas/oil pipeline, as well as 388,200 km of power network serving 19,790,000 customers. The company was formerly known as Hongkong Electric Holdings Limited and changed its name to Power Assets Holdings Limited in February 2011. Power Assets Holdings Limited was founded in 1889 and is based in Central, Hong Kong.