Critical Comparison: Commerce Energy Group (OTCMKTS:CMNR) versus NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE)

Commerce Energy Group (OTCMKTS:CMNR) and NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Commerce Energy Group and NextEra Energy’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Commerce Energy Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
NextEra Energy	$28.11 billion	5.58	$7.31 billion	$3.67	20.80

NextEra Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Commerce Energy Group.

Profitability

This table compares Commerce Energy Group and NextEra Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Commerce Energy Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
NextEra Energy	27.62%	11.72%	3.81%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.7% of NextEra Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Commerce Energy Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of NextEra Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Commerce Energy Group has a beta of 4.98, indicating that its share price is 398% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NextEra Energy has a beta of 0.5, indicating that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Commerce Energy Group and NextEra Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Commerce Energy Group	0	0	0	0	N/A
NextEra Energy	1	3	11	0	2.67

NextEra Energy has a consensus price target of $72.64, suggesting a potential downside of 4.83%.

Summary

NextEra Energy beats Commerce Energy Group on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Commerce Energy Group

Commerce Energy Group Inc. through its subsidiaries provides electric power and natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers in California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Ohio. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Costa Mesa, California.

About NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power to retail and wholesale customers in North America. The company generates electricity through wind, solar, nuclear,natural gas, and other clean energy. It also develops, constructs, and operates long-term contracted assets that consists of clean energy solutions, such as renewable generation facilities, battery storage projects, and electric transmission facilities; sells energy commodities; and owns, develops, constructs, manages and operates electric generation facilities in wholesale energy markets. The company had approximately 33,276 megawatts of net generating capacity; approximately 90,000 circuit miles of transmission and distribution lines; and 883 substations. It serves approximately 12 million people through approximately 5.9 million customer accounts in the east and lower west coasts of Florida. The company was formerly known as FPL Group, Inc. and changed its name to NextEra Energy, Inc. in 2010. NextEra Energy, Inc. was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida.