NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) versus Genie Energy (NYSE:GNE) Head-To-Head Comparison

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) and Genie Energy (NYSE:GNE) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for NRG Energy and Genie Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NRG Energy	1	3	11	1	2.75
Genie Energy	0	1	0	0	2.00

NRG Energy currently has a consensus price target of $198.21, suggesting a potential upside of 20.69%. Given NRG Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe NRG Energy is more favorable than Genie Energy.

Dividends

NRG Energy pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Genie Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. NRG Energy pays out 48.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Genie Energy pays out 37.5% 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. NRG Energy has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Genie Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares NRG Energy and Genie Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NRG Energy	2.81%	109.48%	6.55%
Genie Energy	1.00%	4.47%	2.16%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares NRG Energy and Genie Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NRG Energy	$30.71 billion	1.15	$864.00 million	$3.94	41.68
Genie Energy	$483.28 million	0.79	$12.59 million	$0.80	18.09

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.7% of NRG Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.2% of Genie Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of NRG Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.4% of Genie Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

NRG Energy has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Genie Energy has a beta of 0.19, indicating that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

NRG Energy beats Genie Energy on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NRG Energy

NRG Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy and home services company in the United States and Canada. It operates through Texas; East; West/Services/Other; Vivint Smart Home; and Corporate Activities segments. The company produces and sells electricity generated using coal, oil, solar, and battery storage; natural gas; and a cloud-based home platform, including hardware, software, sales, installation, customer service, technical support, and professional monitoring solutions. It offers retail electricity and energy management, line and surge protection products, HVAC installation, repair and maintenance, home protection products, carbon offsets, back-up power stations, portable power, portable solar, and portable lighting; retail services comprising demand response, commodity sales, energy efficiency, and energy management solutions; and system power, distributed generation, renewable and low-carbon products, carbon management and specialty services, backup generation, storage and distributed solar, and energy advisory services. In addition, the company trades in power, natural gas, and related commodities; environmental products; weather products; and financial products, including forwards, futures, options, and swaps. It offers its products and services under the NRG, Reliant, Direct Energy, Green Mountain Energy, and Vivint. It serves residential, commercial, government, industrial, and wholesale customers. NRG Energy, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Genie Energy

Genie Energy Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in the supply of electricity and natural gas to residential and small business customers in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, GRE and Genie Renewables. The company also develops, constructs, and operates solar energy projects for commercial and industrial customers, as well as its own portfolio; provides energy brokerage and advisory services; markets community solar energy solutions; and manufactures and distributes solar panel, as well as engages in solar installation design and project management activities. Genie Energy Ltd. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.