FirstEnergy vs PPL
FE and PPL side by side, both in electric services. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How FE and PPL compare
FirstEnergy and PPL are about the same size, with market caps of $27.1B and $26.8B.
On earnings, PPL is cheaper: it trades at 21.1× trailing earnings, against 25.0× for FirstEnergy.
PPL keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 13.5% compared with 6.9% at FirstEnergy.
Both pay dividends: FirstEnergy yields 3.9% and PPL 3.2%.
PPL scores higher on the StockData Score (9 against 5 for FirstEnergy), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | FE | PPL |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $27.1B | $26.8B |
| Share price | $46.91 | $35.65 |
| Change, 1 year | 2.4% | −2.3% |
| Change, 5 years | 20.1% | 24.1% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.27 | 0.41 |
| Employees | 11K | 6,546 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 5 | 9 (better) |
| Valuation score | 0 | 3 (better) |
| Growth score | 2 | 2 |
| Performance score | 1 | 2 (better) |
| Health score | 1 (better) | 0 |
| Dividend score | 1 | 2 (better) |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 25.0× | 21.1× (better) |
| P/S | 1.7× (better) | 2.9× |
| P/B | 2.1× | – |
| EV/EBITDA | 24.9× | 20.7× (better) |
| PEG | 0.71 (better) | 1.32 |
| FCF yield | −7.2% (better) | −7.4% |
| Fair value | $31.56 | $35.02 |
| Margin of safety | −48.6% | −1.8% (better) |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 12.6% | – |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 6.9% | 10.6% (better) |
| Net income growth (TTM) | −17.0% | 28.1% (better) |
| EPS growth (TTM) | −16.8% | 27.1% (better) |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | −2.4% (better) | −3.6% |
| Profitability | ||
| Operating margin | 14.6% | 24.1% (better) |
| Net margin | 6.9% | 13.5% (better) |
| FCF margin | −12.3% (better) | −21.2% |
| Return on equity | 8.4% | – |
| Return on invested capital | 4.7% | – |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 2.24 | – |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 12.51 | 8.83 (better) |
| Interest coverage | 1.8× | 2.6× (better) |
| Current ratio | 0.54 | 0.91 (better) |
| Altman Z-score | 0.73 | 0.98 (better) |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 (better) |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 3.9% (better) | 3.2% |
| Payout ratio | 95.9% | 64.6% |
| Years of dividend growth | 3 | 3 |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 2.4% (better) | −8.1% |
| Shareholder yield | 3.9% (better) | 3.2% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 89.5% | 91.2% |
| Held by insiders | 5.2% | 0.17% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$2.0M | −$251K (better) |
| Short interest, % of float | 5.8% | – |
Go deeper
- FE stock overview
- FE income statement
- FE valuation and score
- PPL stock overview
- PPL income statement
- PPL valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.