Critical Comparison: AGL Energy (AGLNF) vs. Its Competitors

AGL Energy (OTCMKTS:AGLNF) is one of 141 publicly-traded companies in the “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare AGL Energy to related companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares AGL Energy and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AGL Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A
AGL Energy Competitors	-42.28%	13.57%	0.81%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares AGL Energy and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
AGL Energy	N/A	N/A	5.44
AGL Energy Competitors	$6.35 billion	$832.74 million	13.07

AGL Energy’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than AGL Energy. AGL Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for AGL Energy and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AGL Energy	0	0	2	0	3.00
AGL Energy Competitors	918	2919	3697	176	2.41

As a group, “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” companies have a potential upside of 144.98%. Given AGL Energy’s peers higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe AGL Energy has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Dividends

AGL Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.9%. AGL Energy pays out 59.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” companies pay a dividend yield of 6.6% and pay out 280.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. AGL Energy is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

15.3% of AGL Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.3% of shares of all “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” companies are owned by institutional investors. 21.7% of shares of all “Independent Power & Renewable Electricity Producers” companies are owned by company 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.

Summary

AGL Energy peers beat AGL Energy on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

AGL Energy Company Profile

AGL Energy Limited supplies energy and other essential services to residential, small and large businesses, and wholesale customers in Australia. It operates through three segments: Customer Markets, Integrated Energy, and Investments. The company engages in retailing of electricity, gas, broadband, mobile, voice, solar, and energy products and services; and operates power generation portfolio and other assets including coal, gas and renewable generation, natural gas storage and production, and development projects. It also offers renewable energy schemes; and controls dispatch of owned and contracted generation assets, gas offtake agreements, and associated portfolio of energy hedging products. In addition, the company offers coal and gas-fired generation; and renewable energy sources, such as wind, hydro and solar, batteries and other firming technology; and gas production and storage assets. AGL Energy Limited was founded in 1837 and is based in Sydney, Australia.