Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) versus Companhia Paranaense de Energia (NYSE:ELPC) Critical Review

Companhia Paranaense de Energia (NYSE:ELPC) and Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Companhia Paranaense de Energia and Portland General Electric, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Companhia Paranaense de Energia	0	0	0	0	0.00
Portland General Electric	1	6	2	0	2.11

Portland General Electric has a consensus price target of $45.78, indicating a potential upside of 5.99%. Given Portland General Electric’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Portland General Electric is more favorable than Companhia Paranaense de Energia.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Companhia Paranaense de Energia and Portland General Electric”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Companhia Paranaense de Energia	$22.65 billion	0.31	$749.00 million	$0.70	9.46
Portland General Electric	$3.44 billion	1.37	$313.00 million	$3.01	14.35

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

Dividends

Companhia Paranaense de Energia pays an annual dividend of $0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Portland General Electric pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Companhia Paranaense de Energia pays out 21.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Portland General Electric pays out 66.4% 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.

Volatility & Risk

Companhia Paranaense de Energia has a beta of -0.31, meaning that its stock price is 131% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Portland General Electric has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Companhia Paranaense de Energia and Portland General Electric’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Companhia Paranaense de Energia	N/A	N/A	N/A
Portland General Electric	9.13%	9.10%	2.75%

Summary

Portland General Electric beats Companhia Paranaense de Energia on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Companhia Paranaense de Energia

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.

About Portland General Electric

Portland General Electric Company, an integrated electric utility company, engages in the generation, wholesale purchase, transmission, distribution, and retail sale of electricity in the state of Oregon. It operates six thermal plants, three wind farms, and seven hydroelectric facilities. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned an electric transmission system consisting of 1,254 circuit miles, including 287 circuit miles of 500 kilovolt line, 413 circuit miles of 230 kilovolt line, and 554 miles of 115 kilovolt line; and served 934 thousand retail customers in 51 cities. It also has 28,868 circuit miles of distribution lines. Portland General Electric Company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.