Hallador Energy (NASDAQ:HNRG) & Entergy (NYSE:ETR) Critical Contrast

Entergy (NYSE:ETR) and Hallador Energy (NASDAQ:HNRG) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Entergy and Hallador Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Entergy	14.75%	10.10%	2.37%
Hallador Energy	-1.25%	-1.48%	-0.72%

Risk & Volatility

Entergy has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hallador Energy has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Entergy pays an annual dividend of $4.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Hallador Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Entergy pays out 45.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hallador Energy pays out 27.1% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Entergy and Hallador Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Entergy	1	2	10	1	2.79
Hallador Energy	0	0	1	0	3.00

Entergy currently has a consensus price target of $127.35, indicating a potential downside of 1.47%. Hallador Energy has a consensus price target of $9.00, indicating a potential upside of 30.81%. Given Hallador Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Hallador Energy is more favorable than Entergy.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

88.1% of Entergy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.4% of Hallador Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Entergy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 32.3% of Hallador Energy shares are held 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Entergy and Hallador Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Entergy	$12.07 billion	2.29	$2.36 billion	$9.97	12.96
Hallador Energy	$485.54 million	0.52	$44.79 million	$0.59	11.66

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

Summary

Entergy beats Hallador Energy on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Entergy

Entergy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and retail distribution of electricity in the United States. It generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, including the City of New Orleans; and distributes natural gas. It also engages in the ownership of interests in non-nuclear power plants that sell electric power to wholesale customers, as well as provides decommissioning services to other nuclear power plant owners. It generates electricity through gas, nuclear, coal, hydro, and solar power sources. The company sells energy to retail power providers, utilities, electric power co-operatives, power trading organizations, and other power generation companies. The company’s power plants have approximately 24,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity. It delivers electricity to 3 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Entergy Corporation was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana.

About Hallador Energy

Hallador Energy Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production of steam coal in the State of Indiana for the electric power generation industry. The company owns the Oaktown Mine 1 and Oaktown Mine 2 underground mines in Oaktown; Freelandville Center Pit surface mine in Freelandville; and Prosperity Surface mine in Petersburg, Indiana. It is also involved in gas exploration activities in Indiana; and operation of logistics transport facility. Hallador Energy Company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Terre Haute, Indiana.