Comparing AES (NYSE:AES) and Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE:HE)

AES (NYSE:AES) and Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE:HE) are both utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

AES has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hawaiian Electric Industries has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares AES and Hawaiian Electric Industries”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AES	$12.23 billion	0.84	$910.00 million	$1.26	11.50
Hawaiian Electric Industries	$3.09 billion	0.86	$126.28 million	$0.71	21.66

AES has higher revenue and earnings than Hawaiian Electric Industries. AES is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hawaiian Electric Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.1% of AES shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.9% of Hawaiian Electric Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of AES shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Hawaiian Electric Industries shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares AES and Hawaiian Electric Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AES	7.40%	19.93%	3.29%
Hawaiian Electric Industries	4.09%	9.82%	1.75%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for AES and Hawaiian Electric Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AES	0	8	2	0	2.20
Hawaiian Electric Industries	1	2	0	1	2.25

AES presently has a consensus target price of $24.09, suggesting a potential upside of 66.32%. Hawaiian Electric Industries has a consensus target price of $13.25, suggesting a potential downside of 13.86%. Given AES’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe AES is more favorable than Hawaiian Electric Industries.

Summary

AES beats Hawaiian Electric Industries on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AES

The AES Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified power generation and utility company in the United States and internationally. The company owns and/or operates power plants to generate and sell power to customers, such as utilities, industrial users, and other intermediaries; owns and/or operates utilities to generate or purchase, distribute, transmit, and sell electricity to end-user customers in the residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors; and generates and sells electricity on the wholesale market. It uses various fuels and technologies to generate electricity, such as coal, gas, hydro, wind, solar, and biomass, as well as renewables comprising energy storage and landfill gas. The company owns and/or operates a generation portfolio of approximately 34,596 megawatts and distributes power to 2.6 million customers. The company was formerly known as Applied Energy Services, Inc. and changed its name to The AES Corporation in April 2000. The AES Corporation was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

About Hawaiian Electric Industries

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the electric utility businesses in the United States. It operates in three segments: Electric Utility, Bank, and Other. The Electric Utility segment engages in the production, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, and Molokai. Its renewable energy sources and potential sources include wind, solar, photovoltaic, geothermal, wave, hydroelectric, municipal waste, and other biofuels. This segment serves suburban communities, resorts, the United States Armed Forces installations, and agricultural operations. The Bank segment operates a federally chartered savings bank that offers banking and other financial services to consumers and businesses, including savings and checking accounts; and loans comprising residential and commercial real estate, residential mortgage, construction and development, multifamily residential and commercial real estate, consumer, and commercial loans. The Other segment invests in non-regulated renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure in the State of Hawaii. Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.