Contrasting NiSource (NYSE:NI) and AuraSource (OTCMKTS:ARAO)

AuraSource (OTCMKTS:ARAO) and NiSource (NYSE:NI) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for AuraSource and NiSource, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AuraSource	0	0	0	0	0.00
NiSource	0	2	10	0	2.83

NiSource has a consensus target price of $49.82, indicating a potential upside of 19.72%. Given NiSource’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe NiSource is more favorable than AuraSource.

Profitability

This table compares AuraSource and NiSource’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AuraSource	N/A	N/A	N/A
NiSource	13.20%	7.95%	2.57%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

22.2% of AuraSource shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of NiSource shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of AuraSource shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of NiSource shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares AuraSource and NiSource”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AuraSource	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.05)	-0.01
NiSource	$6.64 billion	3.00	$929.50 million	$1.88	22.13

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

Summary

NiSource beats AuraSource on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AuraSource

AuraSource, Inc. focuses on sales of electric automobiles. It operates through two segments, AuraMetal and AuraMoto. The AuraMetal segment focuses on the development and production of environmentally friendly and beneficiation process for complex ore, tailings, and slimes materials as industrial application solutions. The AuraMoto segment focuses on sourcing various vendors and customers in the automotive industry. AuraSource, Inc. is based in Tempe, Arizona.

About NiSource

NiSource Inc., an energy holding company, operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 3.3 million customers through approximately 55,000 miles of distribution main pipeline and the associated individual customer service lines; and 1,000 miles of transmission main pipeline in northern Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland. It also generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 0.5 million customers in various counties in the northern part of Indiana, as well as engages in wholesale electric and transmission transactions. It owns and operates coal-fired electric generating stations in Wheatfield and Michigan City; combined cycle gas turbine in West Terre Haute; natural gas generating units in Wheatfield; hydro generating plants in Carroll County and White County; wind generating units in White County, Indiana; and solar generating units in Jasper County and White County. The company was formerly known as NIPSCO Industries, Inc. and changed its name to NiSource Inc. in April 1999. NiSource Inc. was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana.