Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) versus OPAL Fuels (NASDAQ:OPAL) Critical Comparison

Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) and OPAL Fuels (NASDAQ:OPAL) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Talen Energy and OPAL Fuels, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Talen Energy	0	3	14	0	2.82
OPAL Fuels	2	4	0	0	1.67

Talen Energy currently has a consensus price target of $367.50, suggesting a potential downside of 16.19%. OPAL Fuels has a consensus price target of $2.81, suggesting a potential upside of 23.36%. Given OPAL Fuels’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe OPAL Fuels is more favorable than Talen Energy.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.4% of Talen Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.2% of OPAL Fuels shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Talen Energy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 84.6% of OPAL Fuels shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Talen Energy has a beta of 1.88, suggesting that its stock price is 88% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OPAL Fuels has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Talen Energy and OPAL Fuels”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Talen Energy	$2.12 billion	9.47	$998.00 million	$3.53	124.22
OPAL Fuels	$299.97 million	1.32	$11.03 million	$0.06	38.00

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

Profitability

This table compares Talen Energy and OPAL Fuels’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Talen Energy	8.75%	9.58%	2.43%
OPAL Fuels	-0.74%	-1.84%	-0.28%

Summary

Talen Energy beats OPAL Fuels on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Talen Energy

Talen Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based energy and power generation company. The Company owns or controls approximately 16,000 megawatts of capacity in wholesale power markets, principally in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southwest regions of the United States. The Company generates and sells electricity, capacity and related products from power plants that use fuel sources, such as nuclear, natural gas and coal. The Company’s Susquehanna nuclear power plant has approximately two boiling water reactors with a combined capacity of over 2,600 megawatts. Its fossil fuel plants are located in Athens, Barney Davis, Bayonne, Brandon Shores, Brunner Island, Camden, Colstrip and Dartmouth, among others. It has an art energy trading center located in Allentown, Pennsylvania (PA), where it manages asset load obligations, fuel supply, capacity and related products, and all supporting physical or financial transactions for its electric generation portfolio.

About OPAL Fuels

OPAL Fuels Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and distribution of renewable natural gas for use as a vehicle fuel for heavy and medium-duty trucking fleets. It also designs, develops, constructs, operates, and services fueling stations for trucking fleets that use natural gas to displace diesel as transportation fuel. In addition, it offers design, development, and construction services for hydrogen fueling stations. Further, the company engages in the generation and sale of renewable power to utilities. OPAL Fuels Inc. is based in White Plains, New York.