CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) versus Power Assets (OTCMKTS:HGKGY) Critical Survey

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) and Power Assets (OTCMKTS:HGKGY) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares CenterPoint Energy and Power Assets”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CenterPoint Energy	$9.36 billion	2.97	$1.05 billion	$1.63	26.03
Power Assets	$98.89 million	178.65	$800.08 million	N/A	N/A

CenterPoint Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Power Assets.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.8% of CenterPoint Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of CenterPoint Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Power Assets shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for CenterPoint Energy and Power Assets, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CenterPoint Energy	1	6	7	1	2.53
Power Assets	0	0	0	0	0.00

CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus price target of $44.15, suggesting a potential upside of 4.05%. Given CenterPoint Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CenterPoint Energy is more favorable than Power Assets.

Risk & Volatility

CenterPoint Energy has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Power Assets has a beta of 0.33, meaning that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

CenterPoint Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Power Assets pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. CenterPoint Energy pays out 56.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CenterPoint Energy has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. CenterPoint Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares CenterPoint Energy and Power Assets’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CenterPoint Energy	11.38%	10.56%	2.57%
Power Assets	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

CenterPoint Energy beats Power Assets on 13 of the 16 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 Power Assets

Power Assets Holdings Limited, an investment holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mainland China, and internationally. It generates energy from thermal, renewable energy, and waste sources. The company also transmits and distributes oil and gas; and provides trust administration and management services. It has a generation capacity of 879 MW renewable energy/energy from waste, 5,262 MW gas fired, and 3,567 MW coal/oil fired; and operates 114,900 km of gas/oil pipeline, as well as 388,200 km of power network serving 19,790,000 customers. The company was formerly known as Hongkong Electric Holdings Limited and changed its name to Power Assets Holdings Limited in February 2011. Power Assets Holdings Limited was founded in 1889 and is based in Central, Hong Kong.