Contrasting Cosan (NYSE:CSAN) and Pembina Pipeline (NYSE:PBA)

Pembina Pipeline (NYSE:PBA) and Cosan (NYSE:CSAN) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

55.4% of Pembina Pipeline shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Pembina Pipeline shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Pembina Pipeline has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cosan has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Pembina Pipeline and Cosan’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pembina Pipeline	22.41%	11.41%	4.82%
Cosan	-21.83%	-12.58%	-3.00%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Pembina Pipeline and Cosan”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pembina Pipeline	$5.57 billion	5.06	$1.21 billion	$2.04	23.74
Cosan	$7.24 billion	0.40	-$1.74 billion	($2.16)	-1.34

Pembina Pipeline has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Cosan. Cosan is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pembina Pipeline, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Pembina Pipeline and Cosan, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pembina Pipeline	0	4	5	0	2.56
Cosan	2	4	0	0	1.67

Pembina Pipeline presently has a consensus target price of $64.00, suggesting a potential upside of 32.18%. Cosan has a consensus target price of $3.85, suggesting a potential upside of 32.76%. Given Cosan’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Cosan is more favorable than Pembina Pipeline.

Summary

Pembina Pipeline beats Cosan on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pembina Pipeline

Pembina Pipeline Corporation provides energy transportation and midstream services. It operates through three segments: Pipelines, Facilities, and Marketing & New Ventures. The Pipelines segment operates conventional, oil sands and heavy oil, and transmission assets with a transportation capacity of 2.9 millions of barrels of oil equivalent per day, the ground storage capacity of 10 millions of barrels, and rail terminalling capacity of approximately 105 thousands of barrels of oil equivalent per day serving markets and basins across North America. The Facilities segment offers infrastructure that provides customers with natural gas, condensate, and natural gas liquids (NGLs), including ethane, propane, butane, and condensate; and includes 354 thousands of barrels per day of NGL fractionation capacity, 21 millions of barrels of cavern storage capacity, and associated pipeline, and rail terminalling facilities and a liquefied propane export facility. The Marketing & New Ventures segment buys and sells hydrocarbon liquids and natural gas originating in the Western Canadian sedimentary basin and other basins. Pembina Pipeline Corporation was incorporated in 1954 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About Cosan

Cosan S.A. engages in the fuel distribution business. It operates through Raízen, Compass, Moove, Rumo, and Radar segments. The company’s Raízen segment engages in the production, commercialization, origination, and trading of ethanol, bioenergy, renewable sources, and sugar; trading and resale of electricity; and distribution and commercialization of fuels and lubricants. Its Compass segment distributes piped natural gas to industrial, residential, commercial, automotive, and cogeneration customers; and develops infrastructure projects in a regasification terminal, offshore gas pipeline, and thermal generation projects utilizing natural gas, as well as commercialization of electricity and natural gas. The company’s Moove segment produces and distributes lubricants under the Comma brand. Its Rumo segment provides logistics services for rail transportation, port storage, and loading of goods, including grains and sugar; and leases locomotives, wagons, and another railroad equipment, as well as operates containers. The company’s Radar segment manages agricultural property. It operates in Brazil, England, France, Spain and Portugal, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay, the United States, Asia, and internationally. Cosan S.A. was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.