Head to Head Contrast: National Grid Transco (NYSE:NGG) & Power Assets (OTCMKTS:HGKGY)

Power Assets (OTCMKTS:HGKGY) and National Grid Transco (NYSE:NGG) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Power Assets has a beta of 0.32, indicating that its stock price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Grid Transco has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Power Assets pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. National Grid Transco pays an annual dividend of $2.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Power Assets and National Grid Transco, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Power Assets	0	0	0	0	0.00
National Grid Transco	2	5	4	0	2.18

National Grid Transco has a consensus price target of $83.80, indicating a potential upside of 3.65%. Given National Grid Transco’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe National Grid Transco is more favorable than Power Assets.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Power Assets and National Grid Transco”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Power Assets	$117.77 million	130.02	$784.46 million	N/A	N/A
National Grid Transco	$23.61 billion	3.40	$3.70 billion	N/A	N/A

National Grid Transco has higher revenue and earnings than Power Assets.

Profitability

This table compares Power Assets and National Grid Transco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Power Assets	N/A	N/A	N/A
National Grid Transco	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

4.7% of National Grid Transco shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Power Assets shares are owned by 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

National Grid Transco beats Power Assets on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Power Assets

Power Assets Holdings Limited, an investment holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mainland China, and internationally. It generates energy from thermal, renewable energy, and waste sources. The company also transmits and distributes oil and gas; and provides trust administration and management services. It has a generation capacity of 879 MW renewable energy/energy from waste, 5,262 MW gas fired, and 3,567 MW coal/oil fired; and operates 114,900 km of gas/oil pipeline, as well as 388,200 km of power network serving 19,790,000 customers. The company was formerly known as Hongkong Electric Holdings Limited and changed its name to Power Assets Holdings Limited in February 2011. Power Assets Holdings Limited was founded in 1889 and is based in Central, Hong Kong.

About National Grid Transco

National Grid plc transmits and distributes electricity and gas. It operates through UK Electricity Transmission, UK Electricity Distribution, UK Electricity System Operator, New England, New York, National Grid Ventures, and Other segments. The UK Electricity Transmission segment provides electricity transmission and construction work services in England and Wales. The UK Electricity Distribution segment offers electricity distribution services in Midlands, and South West of England and South Wales. The UK Electricity System Operator segment provides balancing services for supply and demand of electricity on Great Britain’s electricity transmission system; and acts as an agent on behalf of transmission operators. The New England segment offers electricity and gas distribution, and electricity transmission services in New England. The New York segment provides electricity and gas distribution, and electricity transmission services in New York. The National Grid Ventures segment provides transmission services through electricity interconnectors and LNG importation at the Isle of Grain, as well as sale of renewables projects. The Other segment engages in the leasing and sale of commercial property, as well as insurance activities in the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.