Financial Analysis: Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) (NYSE:EDN) vs. Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG)

Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) (NYSE:EDN) and Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:PCG) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) and Pacific Gas & Electric, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)	1	1	0	0	1.50
Pacific Gas & Electric	0	9	3	0	2.25

Pacific Gas & Electric has a consensus price target of $17.27, indicating a potential upside of 31.78%. Given Pacific Gas & Electric’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Pacific Gas & Electric is more favorable than Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor).

Risk and Volatility

Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pacific Gas & Electric has a beta of 0.28, indicating that its share price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) and Pacific Gas & Electric”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)	$2.44 billion	0.38	$191.39 million	$4.19	4.88
Pacific Gas & Electric	$24.93 billion	1.41	$2.70 billion	$1.38	9.50

Pacific Gas & Electric 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 Pacific Gas & Electric, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.6% of Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Pacific Gas & Electric shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Pacific Gas & Electric shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor)	7.46%	10.31%	4.09%
Pacific Gas & Electric	12.25%	12.48%	2.78%

Summary

Pacific Gas & Electric beats Empresa Distribuidora Y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (Edenor) on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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..

About Pacific Gas & Electric

PG&E Corp. operates as a holding company, which engages in generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers. It specializes in energy, utility, power, gas, electricity, solar and sustainability. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.