Critical Review: NET Power (NPWR) versus Its Peers

NET Power (NYSE:NPWR) is one of 21 public companies in the “Electrical industrial apparatus” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare NET Power to related companies based on the strength of its risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares NET Power and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NET Power	N/A	6.23%	1.91%
NET Power Competitors	-211.08%	-93.75%	-17.25%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares NET Power and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
NET Power	$250,000.00	-$77.23 million	-3.20
NET Power Competitors	$534.72 million	-$136.01 million	-3.42

NET Power’s peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than NET Power. NET Power is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Volatility and Risk

NET Power has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NET Power’s peers have a beta of 1.54, suggesting that their average share price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for NET Power and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NET Power	0	1	1	1	3.00
NET Power Competitors	92	599	840	35	2.52

NET Power presently has a consensus target price of $4.50, indicating a potential upside of 109.79%. As a group, “Electrical industrial apparatus” companies have a potential upside of 36.56%. Given NET Power’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe NET Power is more favorable than its peers.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

53.6% of NET Power shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.1% of shares of all “Electrical industrial apparatus” companies are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of NET Power shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.7% of shares of all “Electrical industrial apparatus” companies 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

NET Power beats its peers on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

NET Power Company Profile

NET Power Inc. operates as a clean energy technology company. The company invents, develops, and licenses clean power generation technology. NET Power Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.