Analyzing Cosan (CSAN) and Its Rivals

Cosan (NYSE:CSAN) is one of 75 public companies in the “Other Alt Energy” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Cosan to similar companies based on the strength of its risk, dividends, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

43.5% of shares of all “Other Alt Energy” companies are held by institutional investors. 18.8% of shares of all “Other Alt Energy” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cosan and its competitors revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cosan	$8.15 billion	-$1.75 billion	3.91
Cosan Competitors	$5.38 billion	$332.42 million	10.66

Cosan has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its competitors. Cosan is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Cosan pays an annual dividend of $0.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. Cosan pays out 23.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Other Alt Energy” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.0% and pay out 54.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Cosan is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

Cosan has a beta of 1.15, meaning that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cosan’s competitors have a beta of -72.72, meaning that their average share price is 7,372% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Cosan and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cosan	0	0	1	1	3.50
Cosan Competitors	252	972	1620	52	2.51

Cosan currently has a consensus price target of $19.00, indicating a potential upside of 268.22%. As a group, “Other Alt Energy” companies have a potential downside of 5.51%. Given Cosan’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Cosan is more favorable than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Cosan and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cosan	-25.77%	-24.39%	-7.53%
Cosan Competitors	-41.99%	-24.92%	-4.00%

Summary

Cosan beats its competitors on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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.