Analyzing Electricité de France (OTCMKTS:ECIFF) & Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Electricité de France (OTCMKTS:ECIFF) and Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Electricité de France and Sempra Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Electricité de France	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sempra Energy	16.70%	8.49%	2.98%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Electricité de France and Sempra Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Electricité de France	0	0	0	0	0.00
Sempra Energy	0	4	10	1	2.80

Sempra Energy has a consensus target price of $103.92, indicating a potential upside of 18.85%. Given Sempra Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Sempra Energy is more favorable than Electricité de France.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

3.7% of Electricité de France shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.7% of Sempra Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Sempra Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Electricité de France pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Sempra Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Electricité de France pays out 35.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sempra Energy pays out 76.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Sempra Energy has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years. Electricité de France is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Electricité de France and Sempra Energy”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Electricité de France	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.90	6.77
Sempra Energy	$13.70 billion	4.17	$1.84 billion	$3.45	25.34

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

Summary

Sempra Energy beats Electricité de France on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Electricité de France

Electricité de France S.A., an integrated energy company, engages in the power generation, transmission, distribution, supply, and trading activities in France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and internationally. The company generates electricity through nuclear, fossil fuel, hydro, solar, wind, biomass, biogas, thermal, and cogeneration plants. It also manages low and medium-voltage public electricity distribution networks; operates, maintains, and develops high-voltage and very-high-voltage electricity transmission networks; and services and produces equipment and fuel for nuclear reactors. In addition, the company is involved in commodity trading activities; and the provision of energy services, including district heating services, thermal energy services, etc. It serves approximately 38.5 million customers, including small businesses, local authorities, and industrial and residential customers. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

About Sempra Energy

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County. As of December 31, 2023, it offered electric services to approximately 3.6 million population and natural gas services to approximately 3.3 million population that covers 4,100 square miles. This segment owns and operates a natural gas distribution, transmission, and storage system that supplies natural gas. As of December 31, 2023, it serves a population of 21 million covering an area of 24,000 square miles. The Sempra Texas Utilities segment engages in the regulated electricity transmission and distribution. As of December 31, 2023, its transmission system included 18,298 circuit miles of transmission lines; 1,257 transmission and distribution substations; interconnection to 173 third-party generation facilities totaling 54,277 MW; and distribution system included approximately 4.0 million points of delivery and consisted of 125,116 miles of overhead and underground lines. The Sempra Infrastructure segment develops, builds, operates, and invests in energy infrastructure to help enable the energy transition in North American markets and worldwide. The company was formerly known as Sempra Energy and changed its name to Sempra in May 2023. Sempra was incorporated in 1996 and is based in San Diego, California.