Reviewing Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) and Cosan (NYSE:CSAN)

Talen Energy (NASDAQ:TLN) and Cosan (NYSE:CSAN) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Talen Energy and Cosan, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Talen Energy	1	2	12	0	2.73
Cosan	1	3	0	0	1.75

Talen Energy currently has a consensus price target of $450.67, suggesting a potential upside of 21.09%. Cosan has a consensus price target of $4.75, suggesting a potential upside of 18.01%. Given Talen Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Talen Energy is more favorable than Cosan.

Profitability

This table compares Talen Energy and Cosan’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Talen Energy	-8.49%	22.58%	3.93%
Cosan	-32.24%	-13.95%	-3.67%

Risk and Volatility

Talen Energy has a beta of 1.9, suggesting that its stock price is 90% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cosan has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Talen Energy and Cosan”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Talen Energy	$2.63 billion	6.43	-$219.00 million	($4.94)	-75.34
Cosan	$40.42 billion	0.10	-$1.74 billion	($2.80)	-1.44

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.4% of Talen Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Talen Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Talen Energy beats Cosan on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Talen Energy

Talen Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based energy and power generation company. The Company owns or controls approximately 16,000 megawatts of capacity in wholesale power markets, principally in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southwest regions of the United States. The Company generates and sells electricity, capacity and related products from power plants that use fuel sources, such as nuclear, natural gas and coal. The Company’s Susquehanna nuclear power plant has approximately two boiling water reactors with a combined capacity of over 2,600 megawatts. Its fossil fuel plants are located in Athens, Barney Davis, Bayonne, Brandon Shores, Brunner Island, Camden, Colstrip and Dartmouth, among others. It has an art energy trading center located in Allentown, Pennsylvania (PA), where it manages asset load obligations, fuel supply, capacity and related products, and all supporting physical or financial transactions for its electric generation portfolio.

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.