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AES vs. NEE: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Utility - Electric Power sector might want to consider either AES (AES - Free Report) or NextEra Energy (NEE - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Both AES and NextEra Energy have a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

AES currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.24, while NEE has a forward P/E of 21.80. We also note that AES has a PEG ratio of 1.48. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. NEE currently has a PEG ratio of 2.60.

Another notable valuation metric for AES is its P/B ratio of 1.74. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, NEE has a P/B of 2.21.

Based on these metrics and many more, AES holds a Value grade of A, while NEE has a Value grade of D.

Both AES and NEE are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that AES is the superior value option right now.


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NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) - free report >>

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