Premier (OTCMKTS:PRHL) & Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Critical Review

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) and Premier (OTCMKTS:PRHL) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Duke Energy and Premier, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Duke Energy	1	6	11	0	2.56
Premier	0	0	0	0	0.00

Duke Energy presently has a consensus target price of $134.50, suggesting a potential upside of 10.51%. Given Duke Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Duke Energy is more favorable than Premier.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Duke Energy and Premier”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Duke Energy	$30.36 billion	3.12	$4.52 billion	$6.36	19.14
Premier	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Duke Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Premier.

Profitability

This table compares Duke Energy and Premier’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Duke Energy	15.76%	9.98%	2.69%
Premier	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

65.3% of Duke Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Duke Energy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Premier shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Duke Energy beats Premier on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest. It generates electricity through coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, solar and wind sources, renewables, and nuclear fuel. This segment also engages in the wholesale of electricity to municipalities, electric cooperative utilities, and load-serving entities. The GU&I segment distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and power generation natural gas customers; and invests in pipeline transmission projects, renewable natural gas projects, and natural gas storage facilities. The company was formerly known as Duke Energy Holding Corp. and changed its name to Duke Energy Corporation in April 2006. Duke Energy Corporation was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About Premier

Premier Holding Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of energy solutions. The firm operates through its subsidiary companies, Energy Efficiency Experts, Inc. (E3) and The Power Company USA, LLC (TPC). It enables customers to reduce energy consumption, lower operating and maintenance costs, and realize environmental benefits. The company was founded on October 18, 1971 and is headquartered in Tustin, CA.