Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) versus CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) Head-To-Head Comparison

Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) and CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

Brookfield Renewable Partners has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CMS Energy has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Brookfield Renewable Partners and CMS Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brookfield Renewable Partners	2.28%	0.44%	0.16%
CMS Energy	12.76%	12.07%	2.87%

Dividends

Brookfield Renewable Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.49 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. CMS Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Brookfield Renewable Partners pays out -156.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CMS Energy pays out 64.2% 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. Brookfield Renewable Partners has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and CMS Energy has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Brookfield Renewable Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

63.2% of Brookfield Renewable Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.6% of CMS Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of CMS Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Brookfield Renewable Partners and CMS Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brookfield Renewable Partners	$5.88 billion	1.22	-$181.00 million	($0.95)	-26.69
CMS Energy	$7.52 billion	2.85	$1.00 billion	$3.38	21.17

CMS Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Brookfield Renewable Partners. Brookfield Renewable Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CMS Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Brookfield Renewable Partners and CMS Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brookfield Renewable Partners	0	1	6	1	3.00
CMS Energy	0	5	8	0	2.62

Brookfield Renewable Partners presently has a consensus price target of $30.11, suggesting a potential upside of 18.74%. CMS Energy has a consensus price target of $77.25, suggesting a potential upside of 7.97%. Given Brookfield Renewable Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Brookfield Renewable Partners is more favorable than CMS Energy.

Summary

CMS Energy beats Brookfield Renewable Partners on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Brookfield Renewable Partners

Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. owns a portfolio of renewable power generating facilities primarily in North America, Colombia, and Brazil. The company generates electricity through hydroelectric, wind, solar, distributed generation, and pumped storage, as well as renewable natural gas, carbon capture and storage, recycling, cogeneration biomass, nuclear services, and power transformation. Brookfield Renewable Partners Limited operates as the general partner of Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. The company was formerly known as Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners L.P. and changed its name to Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. in May 2016. Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. was founded in 1999 and is based in Toronto, Canada. Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P operates as a subsidiary of Brookfield Corporation.

About CMS Energy

CMS Energy Corporation operates as an energy company primarily in Michigan. The company operates through three segments: Electric Utility; Gas Utility; and Enterprises. The Electric Utility segment is involved in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. This segment generates electricity through coal, wind, gas, renewable energy, oil, and nuclear sources. Its distribution system comprises 208 miles of high-voltage distribution overhead lines; 4 miles of high-voltage distribution underground lines; 4,428 miles of high-voltage distribution overhead lines; 19 miles of high-voltage distribution underground lines; 82,474 miles of electric distribution overhead lines; 9,395 miles of underground distribution lines; 1,093 substations; and 3 battery facilities. The Gas Utility segment engages in the purchase, transmission, storage, distribution, and sale of natural gas, which includes 2,392 miles of transmission lines; 15 gas storage fields; 28,065 miles of distribution mains; and 8 compressor stations. The Enterprises segment is involved in the independent power production and marketing, including the development and operation of renewable generation. It serves 1.9 million electric and 1.8 million gas customers, including residential, commercial, and diversified industrial customers. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Jackson, Michigan.