CenterPoint Energy (CNP) Competitors

PG&E (NYSE:PCG) and CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership, community ranking, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Do analysts rate PCG or CNP?

PG&E presently has a consensus target price of $19.75, indicating a potential upside of 6.53%. CenterPoint Energy has a consensus target price of $30.73, indicating a potential upside of 0.71%. Given CenterPoint Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe PG&E is more favorable than CenterPoint Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PG&E	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
CenterPoint Energy	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.45

Does the media favor PCG or CNP?

In the previous week, PG&E had 8 more articles in the media than CenterPoint Energy. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for PG&E and 6 mentions for CenterPoint Energy. PG&E's average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat CenterPoint Energy's score of 0.67 indicating that CenterPoint Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
PG&E	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
CenterPoint Energy	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation and earnings, PCG or CNP?

PG&E has higher revenue and earnings than CenterPoint Energy. PG&E is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CenterPoint Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PG&E	$24.43B	2.19	$2.26B	$1.12	16.55
CenterPoint Energy	$8.70B	2.24	$917M	$1.42	21.49

Is PCG or CNP more profitable?

CenterPoint Energy has a net margin of 11.03% compared to CenterPoint Energy's net margin of 10.05%. CenterPoint Energy's return on equity of 11.32% beat PG&E's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PG&E	10.05%	11.32%	2.27%
CenterPoint Energy	11.03%	10.57%	2.61%

Is PCG or CNP a better dividend stock?

PG&E pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. CenterPoint Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. PG&E pays out 3.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CenterPoint Energy pays out 56.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. CenterPoint Energy has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. CenterPoint Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of PCG or CNP?

78.6% of PG&E shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.8% of CenterPoint Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of PG&E shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of CenterPoint Energy shares are owned by company 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.

Which has more risk and volatility, PCG or CNP?

PG&E has a beta of 1.26, suggesting that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CenterPoint Energy has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in PCG or CNP?

PG&E received 410 more outperform votes than CenterPoint Energy when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.22% of users gave PG&E an outperform vote while only 56.30% of users gave CenterPoint Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
PG&E	Outperform Votes 861 63.22%	Underperform Votes 501 36.78%
CenterPoint Energy	Outperform Votes 451 56.30%	Underperform Votes 350 43.70%

Summary

CenterPoint Energy beats PG&E on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.