CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP – Get Free Report) and AusNet Services (OTCMKTS:SAUNF – Get Free Report) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and risk.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
91.8% of CenterPoint Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of CenterPoint Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares CenterPoint Energy and AusNet Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| CenterPoint Energy | 11.61% | 11.10% | 2.68% |
| AusNet Services | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Earnings and Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| CenterPoint Energy | $9.36 billion | 2.86 | $1.05 billion | $1.70 | 23.87 |
| AusNet Services | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
CenterPoint Energy has higher revenue and earnings than AusNet Services.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for CenterPoint Energy and AusNet Services, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| CenterPoint Energy | 1 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 2.47 |
| AusNet Services | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus price target of $45.43, indicating a potential upside of 11.93%. Given CenterPoint Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe CenterPoint Energy is more favorable than AusNet Services.
Summary
CenterPoint Energy beats AusNet Services on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.
About CenterPoint Energy
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Electric and Natural Gas. The Electric segment includes electric transmission and distribution services to electric customers and electric generation assets, as well as optimizes assets in the wholesale power market. The Natural Gas segment engages in the intrastate natural gas sales, and natural gas transportation and distribution for residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers in Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, and Texas; permanent pipeline connections through interconnects with various interstate and intrastate pipeline companies; and provides maintenance and repair services of home appliances to customers in Minnesota and home repair protection plans to natural gas customers in Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, and Texas through a third party. It serves approximately 2,534,730 metered customers; owned 348 substations with transformer capacity of 79,719 megavolt amperes; and owned and operated 217 miles of intrastate pipeline in Louisiana and Texas. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
About AusNet Services
AusNet Services Ltd. engages in the production and distribution of electricity and gas. It operates through the following segments: Electricity Distribution, Gas Distribution, Electricity Transmission, and Growth and Future Networks. The Electricity Distribution segment carries electricity from the high voltage transmission network to end users. The Gas Distribution segment handles the natural gas to commercial and residential end users. The Electricity Transmission segment owns and manages the vast majority of the electricity transmission network in Victoria. The Growth and Future Networks segment provides contracted infrastructure asset and energy services, as well as a range of asset and utility services to support the management of electricity, gas, and water networks. The company was founded in June 2005 and is headquartered in Southbank, Australia.
Receive News & Ratings for CenterPoint Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CenterPoint Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
