Analyzing Cosan (NYSE:CSAN) and Zeons (OTCMKTS:ZEON)

Zeons (OTCMKTS:ZEON) and Cosan (NYSE:CSAN) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Zeons and Cosan, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zeons	0	0	0	0	0.00
Cosan	1	4	1	0	2.00

Cosan has a consensus target price of $9.50, indicating a potential upside of 134.57%. Given Cosan’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Cosan is more favorable than Zeons.

Profitability

This table compares Zeons and Cosan’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zeons	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cosan	-32.24%	-36.85%	-9.86%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Zeons and Cosan”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zeons	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cosan	$8.15 billion	0.23	-$1.75 billion	($1.48)	-2.74

Zeons has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Cosan.

Volatility and Risk

Zeons has a beta of -1.79, indicating that its stock price is 279% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cosan has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Cosan beats Zeons on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zeons

Zeons Corporation provides research and development of energy solutions. It produces bio fuels, including fuels for diesel, gasoline, and natural gas engines from agricultural feed stocks, such as soybeans and corn. The company also offers a family of technologies that focus on the development of energy from various sources, and the conversion of waste into energy or other usable products. The company was formerly known as U.S. Sustainable Energy Corporation and changed its name to Zeons Corporation in February 2010. The company is based in Natchez, Mississippi.

About Cosan

Cosan S.A. engages in the fuel distribution business. It operates through Raízen, Compass, Moove, Rumo, and Radar segments. The company’s Raízen segment engages in the production, commercialization, origination, and trading of ethanol, bioenergy, renewable sources, and sugar; trading and resale of electricity; and distribution and commercialization of fuels and lubricants. Its Compass segment distributes piped natural gas to industrial, residential, commercial, automotive, and cogeneration customers; and develops infrastructure projects in a regasification terminal, offshore gas pipeline, and thermal generation projects utilizing natural gas, as well as commercialization of electricity and natural gas. The company’s Moove segment produces and distributes lubricants under the Comma brand. Its Rumo segment provides logistics services for rail transportation, port storage, and loading of goods, including grains and sugar; and leases locomotives, wagons, and another railroad equipment, as well as operates containers. The company’s Radar segment manages agricultural property. It operates in Brazil, England, France, Spain and Portugal, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay, the United States, Asia, and internationally. Cosan S.A. was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.