Contrasting Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) (NYSE:EDN) and Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED)

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) and Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) (NYSE:EDN) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

Consolidated Edison has a beta of 0.37, meaning that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) has a beta of 1.81, meaning that its stock price is 81% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Consolidated Edison and Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Consolidated Edison	12.27%	8.79%	2.89%
Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)	7.82%	11.33%	4.42%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Consolidated Edison and Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor), as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Consolidated Edison	4	5	3	0	1.92
Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)	0	2	0	0	2.00

Consolidated Edison presently has a consensus target price of $104.58, suggesting a potential upside of 9.17%. Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) has a consensus target price of $36.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.49%. Given Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) is more favorable than Consolidated Edison.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Consolidated Edison and Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Consolidated Edison	$15.26 billion	2.27	$1.82 billion	$5.72	16.75
Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)	$2.24 billion	0.65	$299.34 million	$4.18	7.72

Consolidated Edison has higher revenue and earnings than Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor). Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Consolidated Edison, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

66.3% of Consolidated Edison shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.6% of Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Consolidated Edison shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Consolidated Edison beats Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Consolidated Edison

Consolidated Edison, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery businesses in the United States. It offers electric services to approximately 3.7 million customers in New York City and Westchester County; gas to approximately 1.1 million customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens, and Westchester County; and steam to approximately 1,530 customers in parts of Manhattan. The company also supplies electricity to approximately 0.3 million customers in southeastern New York and northern New Jersey; and gas to approximately 0.2 million customers in southeastern New York. In addition, it operates 545 circuit miles of transmission lines; 15 transmission substations; 63 distribution substations; 90,051 in-service line transformers; 3,788 pole miles of overhead distribution lines; and 2,314 miles of underground distribution lines, as well as 4,363 miles of mains and 380,870 service lines for natural gas distribution. Further, the company invests in electric and gas transmission projects. It primarily sells electricity to industrial, commercial, residential, and government customers. Consolidated Edison, Inc. was founded in 1823 and is based in New York, New York.

About Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)

Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima is involved in the distribution and sale of electricity in Argentina. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima operates as a subsidiary of Empresa de Energía del Cono Sur S.A..