Financial Contrast: Vistra (NYSE:VST) & Enlight Renewable Energy (NASDAQ:ENLT)

Vistra (NYSE:VST) and Enlight Renewable Energy (NASDAQ:ENLT) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Vistra has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Enlight Renewable Energy has a beta of 1.69, suggesting that its share price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Vistra and Enlight Renewable Energy”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vistra	$14.06 billion	2.82	$1.49 billion	$1.63	70.07
Enlight Renewable Energy	$255.70 million	7.35	$70.92 million	$0.51	31.88

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

Profitability

This table compares Vistra and Enlight Renewable Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vistra	4.61%	21.05%	2.37%
Enlight Renewable Energy	18.61%	3.97%	1.25%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.9% of Vistra shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.9% of Enlight Renewable Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Vistra shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Vistra and Enlight Renewable Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vistra	0	0	6	1	3.14
Enlight Renewable Energy	0	2	2	0	2.50

Vistra presently has a consensus target price of $110.83, indicating a potential downside of 2.96%. Enlight Renewable Energy has a consensus target price of $18.75, indicating a potential upside of 15.31%. Given Enlight Renewable Energy’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Enlight Renewable Energy is more favorable than Vistra.

Summary

Vistra beats Enlight Renewable Energy on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vistra

Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia. In addition, the company is involved in the electricity generation, wholesale energy purchases and sales, commodity risk management, fuel production, and fuel logistics management activities. It serves approximately 4 million customers with a generation capacity of approximately 37,000 megawatts with a portfolio of natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar, and battery energy storage facilities. The company was formerly known as Vistra Energy Corp. and changed its name to Vistra Corp. in July 2020. Vistra Corp. was founded in 1882 and is based in Irving, Texas.

About Enlight Renewable Energy

Enlight Renewable Energy Ltd operates a renewable energy platform in Israel, Central-Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and the United States. The company develops, finances, constructs, owns, and operates utility-scale renewable energy projects. It develops wind energy and solar energy projects, as well as energy storage projects. The company was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Rosh Haayin, Israel.