Comparing Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) & Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP)

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) and Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Evergy and Korea Electric Power’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Evergy	15.19%	9.20%	2.76%
Korea Electric Power	8.95%	18.25%	3.45%

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Evergy	$5.96 billion	3.17	$855.60 million	$3.94	20.82
Korea Electric Power	$68.57 billion	0.23	$5.98 billion	$4.78	2.58

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.2% of Evergy shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Evergy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Korea Electric Power shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Evergy has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Korea Electric Power has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Evergy	0	3	8	0	2.73
Korea Electric Power	2	2	0	0	1.50

Evergy presently has a consensus price target of $90.60, indicating a potential upside of 10.47%. Given Evergy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Evergy is more favorable than Korea Electric Power.

Dividends

Evergy pays an annual dividend of $2.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Korea Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Evergy pays out 70.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Korea Electric Power pays out 10.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Evergy has raised its dividend for 20 consecutive years. Korea Electric Power is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Evergy beats Korea Electric Power on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Korea Electric Power

Korea Electric Power Corporation, an integrated electric utility company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in South Korea and internationally. The company operates through Transmission and Distribution, Nuclear Power Generation, Thermal Power Generation, and Others segments. It generates power from nuclear, coal, oil, liquefied natural gas, internal combustion, combined-cycle, integrated gasification combined cycle, hydro, wind, solar, fuel cell, biogas, and other sources. As of December 31, 2022, the company had a total of 770 generation units, including nuclear, thermal, hydroelectric, and internal combustion units with an installed generation capacity of 82,723 megawatts; transmission system consisted of 35,451 circuit kilometers of lines of 765 kilovolts and others, including high-voltage direct current lines, as well as 895 substations with an installed transformer capacity of 347,426 megavolt-amperes; and distribution system included 139,265 megavolt-amperes of transformer capacity and 10,084,051 units of support with a total line length of 535,241 circuit kilometers. The company provides electricity to residential, commercial, educational, industrial, agricultural, street lighting, and overnight power usage. It also provides engineering and construction services for utility plant and others; utility plant maintenance, electric power information technology, resources development, facility maintenance, electric meter reading, and security services; and engages in nuclear fuel, fly ashes recycling, utility plants construction and operation, and wood pellet utilization businesses. Korea Electric Power Corporation was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Naju-si, South Korea.