Contrasting Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) and Emera (OTCMKTS:EMRAF)

Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) and Emera (OTCMKTS:EMRAF) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk and earnings.

Dividends

Korea Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $0.51 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.6%. Emera pays an annual dividend of $1.45 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Korea Electric Power pays out -16.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Emera pays out 73.8% 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. Korea Electric Power is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Korea Electric Power and Emera, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Korea Electric Power	0	0	1	0	3.00
Emera	0	1	0	0	2.00

Emera has a consensus price target of $61.40, indicating a potential upside of 81.75%. Given Emera’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Emera is more favorable than Korea Electric Power.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

23.8% of Emera shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Korea Electric Power shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Korea Electric Power and Emera’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Korea Electric Power	-5.65%	-13.27%	-2.03%
Emera	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Korea Electric Power and Emera’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Korea Electric Power	$88,205.00 billion	0.00	-$3.86 billion	($3.01)	-2.56
Emera	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.97	17.19

Emera has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Korea Electric Power. Korea Electric Power is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Emera, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Emera beats Korea Electric Power on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Korea Electric Power

Korea Electric Power Corporation, an integrated electric utility company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in South Korea and internationally. The company operates through Transmission and Distribution, Nuclear Power Generation, Thermal Power Generation, and Others segments. It generates power from nuclear, coal, oil, liquefied natural gas, internal combustion, combined-cycle, integrated gasification combined cycle, hydro, wind, solar, fuel cell, biogas, and other sources. As of December 31, 2022, the company had a total of 770 generation units, including nuclear, thermal, hydroelectric, and internal combustion units with an installed generation capacity of 82,723 megawatts; transmission system consisted of 35,451 circuit kilometers of lines of 765 kilovolts and others, including high-voltage direct current lines, as well as 895 substations with an installed transformer capacity of 347,426 megavolt-amperes; and distribution system included 139,265 megavolt-amperes of transformer capacity and 10,084,051 units of support with a total line length of 535,241 circuit kilometers. The company provides electricity to residential, commercial, educational, industrial, agricultural, street lighting, and overnight power usage. It also provides engineering and construction services for utility plant and others; utility plant maintenance, electric power information technology, resources development, facility maintenance, electric meter reading, and security services; and engages in nuclear fuel, fly ashes recycling, utility plants construction and operation, and wood pellet utilization businesses. Korea Electric Power Corporation was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Naju-si, South Korea.

About Emera

Emera Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity to various customers. The company operates through Florida Electric Utility, Canadian Electric Utilities, Other Electric Utilities, Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, and Other segments. It generates electricity through natural gas, solar, hydroelectricity, coal, and biomass power plants. The company is also involved in the purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of natural gas; and the provision of energy marketing, trading, and other energy asset management services. In addition, it transports re-gasified liquefied natural gas from Saint John, New Brunswick to consumers in the northeastern United States through its 145-kilometer pipeline. As of December 31, 2023, the company's electric utilities served approximately 840,000 customers in West Central Florida; 549,000 customers in Nova Scotia; 134,000 customers in the island of Barbados; 19,000 customers in the Grand Bahama Island; and gas utilities and infrastructure served approximately 490,000 customers across Florida and 540,000 customers in New Mexico. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Halifax, Canada.