Hallador Energy (NASDAQ:HNRG) and Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) Head-To-Head Review

Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) and Hallador Energy (NASDAQ:HNRG) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Clearway Energy and Hallador Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Clearway Energy	0	1	7	2	3.10
Hallador Energy	2	0	2	2	2.67

Clearway Energy currently has a consensus target price of $42.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.24%. Hallador Energy has a consensus target price of $24.88, indicating a potential upside of 146.29%. Given Hallador Energy’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Hallador Energy is more favorable than Clearway Energy.

Profitability

This table compares Clearway Energy and Hallador Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Clearway Energy	5.78%	1.60%	0.55%
Hallador Energy	-0.20%	-0.52%	-0.21%

Risk & Volatility

Clearway Energy has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hallador Energy has a beta of 0.47, indicating that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

84.5% of Clearway Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.4% of Hallador Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Clearway Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.4% of Hallador Energy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Clearway Energy and Hallador Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Clearway Energy	$1.43 billion	4.90	$169.00 million	$0.76	44.84
Hallador Energy	$469.47 million	1.01	$41.87 million	$0.02	505.00

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

Summary

Clearway Energy beats Hallador Energy on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Clearway Energy

Clearway Energy, Inc. operates in the renewable energy business in the United States. The company operates through Conventional and Renewables segments. It has approximately 6,000 net MW of installed wind, solar, and energy generation projects; and approximately 2,500 net MW of natural gas-fired generation facilities. The company was formerly known as NRG Yield, Inc. and changed its name to Clearway Energy, Inc. in August 2018. Clearway Energy, Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and is based in Princeton, New Jersey. Clearway Energy, Inc. is a subsidiary of Clearway Energy Group LLC.

About Hallador Energy

Hallador Energy Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production of steam coal in the State of Indiana for the electric power generation industry. The company owns the Oaktown Mine 1 and Oaktown Mine 2 underground mines in Oaktown; Freelandville Center Pit surface mine in Freelandville; and Prosperity Surface mine in Petersburg, Indiana. It is also involved in gas exploration activities in Indiana; and operation of logistics transport facility. Hallador Energy Company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Terre Haute, Indiana.