Reasons to Add CenterPoint (CNP) to Your Portfolio Right Now
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. CNP operates as an electric and natural gas utility company. It provides electric and natural gas services to customers in Texas. CNP is registering growth in customer volumes and investing substantially to expand operations as well as meet increasing utility demand.
Let’s focus on the factors that make this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock a strong investment pick at the moment.
Growth Projections
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 earnings per share is pegged at $1.50, indicating year-over-year growth of 8.7%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings per share is pegged at $1.50, which indicates a year-over-year increase of 8.1%.
Regular Investments
CenterPoint Energy makes consistent investments to upgrade and maintain the existing infrastructure as well as expand operations. The company plans to invest $4 billion in 2023 and $43.9 billion in the next 10 years. These investments will be utilized primarily to maintain customer reliability and safety, increase resiliency and expand CenterPoint Energy’s systems through value-added projects.
Regular Dividend & Long-Term Earnings Growth
Currently, CenterPoint has a dividend yield of 2.9%, higher than the Zacks S&P 500 composite’s average of 1.71%. In September 2023, CenterPoint Energy’s management approved an increase of a penny in its quarterly dividend rate, taking the annualized rate to 80 cents per share.
The company’s long-term (three- to five-year) earnings growth is currently pegged at 7.5%.
Return on Equity (ROE)
ROE is the measure of a company’s efficiency in utilizing shareholders’ funds. CenterPoint has a trailing 12-month ROE of 10.28%, better than the industry average of 10.26%.
Price Performance
In the past month, the stock has gained 3.9% compared with the industry’s growth of 5.9%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Other Stocks to Consider
Other top-ranked stocks in the same sector are Consolidated Edison ED, NiSource NI and Entergy Corporation ETR, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Consolidated Edison, NiSource and Entergy pay regular dividends, thereby ensuring steady income for investors. The current dividend yields of Consolidated Edison, NiSource and Entergy are 3.58%, 3.82% and 4.47%, respectively.
Long-term earnings growth of Consolidated Edison, NiSource and Entergy is currently pinned at 2%, 7.15% and 6.4%, respectively.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 earnings for Consolidated Edison, NiSource and Entergy moved up 0.8%, 1.3% and 0.3%, respectively, in the past 60 days.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
NiSource, Inc (NI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Entergy Corporation (ETR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Consolidated Edison Inc (ED) : Free Stock Analysis Report
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (CNP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
