Financial Comparison: American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) versus Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel (NYSE:ELPC)

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel (NYSE:ELPC) and American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

75.2% of American Electric Power shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Electric Power shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel and American Electric Power, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel	0	0	0	0	0.00
American Electric Power	1	9	5	0	2.27

American Electric Power has a consensus target price of $111.50, indicating a potential upside of 4.15%. Given American Electric Power’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Electric Power is more favorable than Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel.

Dividends

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. American Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel pays out 49.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Electric Power pays out 54.4% 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. American Electric Power has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility & Risk

Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel has a beta of -0.08, meaning that its stock price is 108% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Electric Power has a beta of 0.46, meaning that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel and American Electric Power”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel	$23.87 billion	0.40	$759.70 million	$0.71	12.72
American Electric Power	$19.72 billion	2.90	$2.97 billion	$6.84	15.65

American Electric Power has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel. Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Electric Power, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel and American Electric Power’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel	N/A	N/A	N/A
American Electric Power	17.68%	11.55%	3.11%

Summary

American Electric Power beats Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Companhia Paranaense de Energia – Copel

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 American Electric Power

American Electric Power Company, Inc., an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments. The company generates electricity using coal and lignite, natural gas, renewable, nuclear, hydro, solar, wind, and other energy sources. It also supplies and markets electric power at wholesale to other electric utility companies, rural electric cooperatives, municipalities, and other market participants. American Electric Power Company, Inc. was incorporated in 1906 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.