Via Renewables (NASDAQ:VIA – Get Rating) and Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK – Get Rating) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Profitability
This table compares Via Renewables and Duke Energy's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
Get Via Renewables alerts:| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Via Renewables | 4.72% | 26.94% | 5.50% |
| Duke Energy | 14.50% | 8.42% | 2.44% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Via Renewables and Duke Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Via Renewables | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Duke Energy | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2.33 |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Via Renewables and Duke Energy's top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Via Renewables | $393.48 million | 0.67 | $5.20 million | $0.74 | 9.88 |
| Duke Energy | $25.10 billion | 3.06 | $3.91 billion | $4.94 | 20.16 |
Duke Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Via Renewables. Via Renewables is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Duke Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Dividends
Via Renewables pays an annual dividend of $0.73 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.0%. Duke Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Via Renewables pays out 98.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Duke Energy pays out 81.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Duke Energy has raised its dividend for 17 consecutive years.
Risk and Volatility
Via Renewables has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Duke Energy has a beta of 0.35, suggesting that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
17.5% of Via Renewables shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.8% of Duke Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 66.1% of Via Renewables shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Duke Energy shares are owned 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.
Summary
Duke Energy beats Via Renewables on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Via Renewables
(Get Rating)
Via Renewables, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an independent retail energy services company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Retail Electricity and Retail Natural Gas. The Retail Electricity segment engages in the transmission and sale of electricity to residential and commercial customers. The Retail Natural Gas segment is involved in the transportation, distribution, and sale of natural gas to residential and commercial customers. As of March 2, 2022, the company operated in 101 utility service territories across 19 states and the District of Columbia. It has approximately 408,000 residential customer equivalents. The company was formerly known as Spark Energy, Inc. and changed its name to Via Renewables, Inc. in August 2021. Via Renewables, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
About Duke Energy
(Get Rating)
Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure, Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, and Commercial Renewables. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, renewable generation, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity. It also engages in the wholesale of electricity to municipalities, electric cooperative utilities, and load-serving entities. This segment serves approximately 8.2 million customers in 6 states in the Southeast and Midwest regions of the United States covering a service territory of approximately 91,000 square miles; and owns approximately 50,259 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity. The Gas Utilities and Infrastructure segment distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and power generation natural gas customers; and owns, operates, and invests in pipeline transmission and natural gas storage facilities. It has approximately 1.6 million customers, including 1.1 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, as well as 550,000 customers in southwestern Ohio and northern Kentucky. The Commercial Renewables segment acquires, owns, develops, builds, and operates wind and solar renewable generation projects, including nonregulated renewable energy and energy storage services to utilities, electric cooperatives, municipalities, and corporate customers. It has 23 wind, 178 solar, and 2 battery storage facilities, as well as 71 fuel cell locations with a capacity of 3,554 MW across 22 states. The company was formerly known as Duke Energy Holding Corp. and changed its name to Duke Energy Corporation in April 2005. The company was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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