Duke Energy (DUK) Competitors

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) and Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, dividends, community ranking, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and profitability.

Does the media prefer NEE or DUK?

In the previous week, NextEra Energy had 82 more articles in the media than Duke Energy. MarketBeat recorded 123 mentions for NextEra Energy and 41 mentions for Duke Energy. Duke Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.19 beat NextEra Energy's score of 1.12 indicating that Duke Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NextEra Energy	64 Very Positive mention(s)	39 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Duke Energy	29 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in NEE or DUK?

NextEra Energy received 162 more outperform votes than Duke Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.56% of users gave NextEra Energy an outperform vote while only 53.72% of users gave Duke Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
NextEra Energy	Outperform Votes 775 71.56%	Underperform Votes 308 28.44%
Duke Energy	Outperform Votes 613 53.72%	Underperform Votes 528 46.28%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, NEE or DUK?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NextEra Energy	$28.11B	5.23	$7.31B	$3.38	21.16
Duke Energy	$29.06B	2.97	$2.84B	$5.44	20.55

Which has more risk and volatility, NEE or DUK?

NextEra Energy has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Duke Energy has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of NEE or DUK?

78.7% of NextEra Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.3% of Duke Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of NextEra Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Duke Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is NEE or DUK more profitable?

NextEra Energy has a net margin of 26.49% compared to Duke Energy's net margin of 14.31%. NextEra Energy's return on equity of 11.94% beat Duke Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NextEra Energy	26.49%	11.94%	3.86%
Duke Energy	14.31%	9.34%	2.53%

Do analysts prefer NEE or DUK?

NextEra Energy currently has a consensus target price of $85.85, suggesting a potential upside of 20.04%. Duke Energy has a consensus target price of $122.23, suggesting a potential upside of 9.32%. Given NextEra Energy's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe NextEra Energy is more favorable than Duke Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NextEra Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Duke Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.54

Is NEE or DUK a better dividend stock?

NextEra Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Duke Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. NextEra Energy pays out 60.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Duke Energy pays out 76.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. NextEra Energy has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years and Duke Energy has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years.

Summary

NextEra Energy beats Duke Energy on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.