Head to Head Analysis: Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) & Kenon (NYSE:KEN)

Kenon (NYSE:KEN) and Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Kenon and Evergy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kenon	0	1	0	0	2.00
Evergy	0	1	9	1	3.00

Evergy has a consensus target price of $80.72, suggesting a potential upside of 3.96%. Given Evergy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Evergy is more favorable than Kenon.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.4% of Kenon shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.2% of Evergy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Kenon shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Evergy shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Kenon has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Evergy has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Kenon and Evergy”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kenon	$774.30 million	4.02	$597.67 million	$1.13	52.81
Evergy	$5.88 billion	3.04	$873.50 million	$3.65	21.27

Evergy has higher revenue and earnings than Kenon. Evergy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kenon, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Kenon pays an annual dividend of $4.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.0%. Evergy pays an annual dividend of $2.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Kenon pays out 424.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Evergy pays out 76.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Kenon has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Evergy has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Kenon and Evergy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kenon	63.80%	-2.32%	-1.38%
Evergy	14.29%	8.62%	2.66%

Summary

Evergy beats Kenon on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kenon

Kenon Holdings Ltd., through its subsidiaries, operates as an owner, developer, and operator of power generation facilities in Israel, the United States, and internationally. It operates through OPC Power Plants, CPV Group, and ZIM segments. The company engages in the generation and supply of electricity and energy; development, construction, and management of solar and wind energy, and conventional natural gas-fired power plants; and provision of container liner shipping services. It also operates a fleet of 150 vessels. Kenon Holdings Ltd. was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Singapore. Kenon Holdings Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Ansonia Holdings Singapore B.V.

About Evergy

Evergy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the United States. The company generates electricity through coal, landfill gas, uranium, and natural gas and oil sources, as well as solar, wind, other renewable sources. It serves residences, commercial firms, industrials, municipalities, and other electric utilities. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.