Contrasting Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE:HE) & Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Hawaiian Electric Industries and Ballard Power Systems, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hawaiian Electric Industries	2	2	0	0	1.50
Ballard Power Systems	3	11	1	0	1.87

Hawaiian Electric Industries currently has a consensus price target of $13.25, suggesting a potential upside of 1.24%. Ballard Power Systems has a consensus price target of $3.59, suggesting a potential downside of 13.76%. Given Hawaiian Electric Industries’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Hawaiian Electric Industries is more favorable than Ballard Power Systems.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hawaiian Electric Industries	4.19%	9.03%	1.64%
Ballard Power Systems	-78.60%	-13.48%	-11.64%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

59.9% of Hawaiian Electric Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.0% of Ballard Power Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Hawaiian Electric Industries shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Ballard Power Systems shares are held 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.

Volatility and Risk

Hawaiian Electric Industries has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ballard Power Systems has a beta of 2.19, meaning that its share price is 119% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Hawaiian Electric Industries and Ballard Power Systems”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hawaiian Electric Industries	$3.09 billion	0.73	$126.28 million	$0.74	17.69
Ballard Power Systems	$99.40 million	12.62	-$90.91 million	($0.27)	-15.41

Hawaiian Electric Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Ballard Power Systems. Ballard Power Systems 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.

Summary

Hawaiian Electric Industries beats Ballard Power Systems on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Ballard Power Systems

Ballard Power Systems Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, sale, and service of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell products. The company offers its products for power product comprising for bus, truck, rail, marine, stationary, and emerging market, such as material handling, off-road, and other applications. It also engages in the delivery of services, including technology solutions, after sales services, and training; and provision of engineering services, product and systems integration services, and related technology transfer for a variety of PEM fuel cell applications. It operates in the United States, Germany, Canada, China, Poland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Belgium, India, Taiwan, Spain, Norway, Australia, Japan, and internationally. The company has a strategic alliance with Linamar Corporation for the co-development and sale of fuel cell powertrains and components for class 1 and 2 vehicles in North America and Europe. Ballard Power Systems Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Burnaby, Canada.