Power Assets (OTCMKTS:HGKGY) versus PPL (NYSE:PPL) Financial Review

Power Assets (OTCMKTS:HGKGY) and PPL (NYSE:PPL) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Power Assets has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PPL has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Power Assets and PPL’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
PPL	13.09%	9.41%	3.10%

Dividends

Power Assets pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. PPL pays an annual dividend of $1.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. PPL pays out 69.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. PPL has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

77.0% of PPL shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Power Assets shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of PPL shares are owned by 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Power Assets and PPL, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Power Assets	0	0	0	0	0.00
PPL	0	3	10	0	2.77

PPL has a consensus target price of $41.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.97%. Given PPL’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe PPL is more favorable than Power Assets.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Power Assets	$98.89 million	164.21	$800.08 million	N/A	N/A
PPL	$9.04 billion	3.08	$1.18 billion	$1.64	22.60

PPL has higher revenue and earnings than Power Assets.

Summary

PPL beats Power Assets on 11 of the 15 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 PPL

PPL Corporation, an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.6 million customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Kentucky Regulated, Pennsylvania Regulated, and Rhode Island Regulated. The company delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and Rhode Island; delivers natural gas to customers in Kentucky and Rhode Island; and generates electricity from power plants in Kentucky. PPL Corporation was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania.