Duke Energy (DUK) Competitors

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

Which has more risk & volatility, NEE or DUK?

NextEra Energy has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Duke Energy has a beta of 0.5, suggesting that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is NEE or DUK a better dividend stock?

NextEra Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Duke Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. NextEra Energy pays out 67.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Duke Energy pays out 73.2% 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. NextEra Energy has increased its dividend for 31 consecutive years and Duke Energy has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years.

Do analysts rate NEE or DUK?

NextEra Energy currently has a consensus target price of $85.85, suggesting a potential upside of 21.04%. Duke Energy has a consensus target price of $121.62, suggesting a potential upside of 3.13%. Given NextEra Energy's higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly 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

Does the media prefer NEE or DUK?

In the previous week, NextEra Energy had 10 more articles in the media than Duke Energy. MarketBeat recorded 49 mentions for NextEra Energy and 39 mentions for Duke Energy. NextEra Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat Duke Energy's score of 1.32 indicating that NextEra Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NextEra Energy	42 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Duke Energy	32 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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	$24.75B	5.89	$6.95B	$3.37	21.05
Duke Energy	$30.36B	3.00	$4.52B	$5.71	20.65

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NEE or DUK?

NextEra Energy received 160 more outperform votes than Duke Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.56% of users gave NextEra Energy an outperform vote while only 53.81% 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 615 53.81%	Underperform Votes 528 46.19%

Is NEE or DUK more profitable?

NextEra Energy has a net margin of 28.06% compared to Duke Energy's net margin of 14.90%. NextEra Energy's return on equity of 11.85% beat Duke Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NextEra Energy	28.06%	11.85%	3.81%
Duke Energy	14.90%	9.50%	2.56%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in 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, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

NextEra Energy beats Duke Energy on 16 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.