Reviewing Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS (NYSE:CIG) and Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP)

Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS (NYSE:CIG) and Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ballard Power Systems has a beta of 2.19, meaning that its stock price is 119% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS and Ballard Power Systems, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS	0	0	1	0	3.00
Ballard Power Systems	3	11	1	0	1.87

Ballard Power Systems has a consensus price target of $3.59, indicating a potential downside of 13.97%. Given Ballard Power Systems’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ballard Power Systems is more favorable than Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS 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
Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS	$7.66 billion	0.79	$877.05 million	$0.19	11.16
Ballard Power Systems	$99.40 million	12.65	-$90.91 million	($0.27)	-15.44

Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS has higher revenue and earnings than Ballard Power Systems. Ballard Power Systems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS and Ballard Power Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS	11.12%	17.63%	7.75%
Ballard Power Systems	-78.60%	-13.48%	-11.64%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

28.0% of Ballard Power Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Ballard Power Systems shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS beats Ballard Power Systems on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Comp En De Mn Cemig ADS

Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in Brazil. The company generates electricity through renewable energy sources, such as water, wind, sun, and biomass; or non-renewable sources, including fossil and nuclear fuels. As of December 31, 2016, it operated hydroelectric plants, thermoelectric plants, and solar plants with a total installed capacity of approximately 8,000 megawatts in 10 states of Brazil. It is also involved in the telecommunications and energy solutions consulting businesses; exploitation of natural gas; sale and trading of electricity; and acquisition, transport, and distribution of gas and its subproducts and derivatives, as well as provision of technology systems and systems for operational management of public service concessions, including companies operating in electricity, gas, water and sewerage, and other utility companies. The company was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

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.