Contrasting NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) and Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG)

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) and NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

Plug Power has a beta of 2.21, meaning that its stock price is 121% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NuScale Power has a beta of 2.3, meaning that its stock price is 130% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Plug Power and NuScale Power, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Plug Power	3	7	5	2	2.35
NuScale Power	3	9	4	1	2.18

Plug Power presently has a consensus price target of $3.59, suggesting a potential upside of 70.02%. NuScale Power has a consensus price target of $13.50, suggesting a potential upside of 38.60%. Given Plug Power’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Plug Power is more favorable than NuScale Power.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Plug Power and NuScale Power”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Plug Power	$709.92 million	4.15	-$1.63 billion	($1.26)	-1.67
NuScale Power	$31.48 million	132.96	-$355.79 million	($2.92)	-3.34

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

Profitability

This table compares Plug Power and NuScale Power’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Plug Power	-220.59%	-56.01%	-21.09%
NuScale Power	-3,888.70%	-35.59%	-30.27%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

43.5% of Plug Power shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.4% of NuScale Power shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Plug Power shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of NuScale Power shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Plug Power beats NuScale Power on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Plug Power

Plug Power Inc. develops hydrogen and fuel cell product solutions in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers GenDrive, a hydrogen-fueled proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell system that provides power to material handling electric vehicles; GenSure, a stationary fuel cell solution that offers modular PEM fuel cell power to support the backup and grid-support power requirements of the telecommunications, transportation, and utility sectors; ProGen, a fuel cell stack and engine technology used in mobility and stationary fuel cell systems, and as engines in electric delivery vans; GenFuel, a liquid hydrogen fueling delivery, generation, storage, and dispensing system; GenCare, an ongoing Internet of Things-based maintenance and on-site service program for GenDrive fuel cell systems, GenSure fuel cell systems, GenFuel hydrogen storage and dispensing products, and ProGen fuel cell engines; and GenKey, an integrated turn-key solution for transitioning to fuel cell power. It also provides electrolyzers, a hydrogen generator for clean hydrogen production; liquefaction systems that provides liquid hydrogen to customers; cryogenic equipment for the distribution of liquified hydrogen, oxygen, argon, nitrogen and other cryogenic gases, including trailers and mobile storage equipment; and liquid hydrogen, an alternative fuel to fossil-based energy. The company sells its products through a direct product sales force, original equipment manufacturers, and dealer networks. Plug Power Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Latham, New York.

About NuScale Power

NuScale Power Corporation engages in the development and sale of modular light water reactor nuclear power plants to supply energy for electrical generation, district heating, desalination, hydrogen production, and other process heat applications. It offers NuScale Power Module (NPM), a water reactor that can generate 77 megawatts of electricity (MWe); and VOYGR power plant designs for three facility sizes that are capable of housing from one to four and six or twelve NPMs. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. NuScale Power Corporation operates as a subsidiary of Fluor Enterprises, Inc.