Ameren Corporation (AEE) vs CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (CNP)

Ameren Corporation and CenterPoint Energy, Inc. are both Utilities Regulated Electric companies. Ameren Corporation is the larger, with a market value of $27.5B against $24.3B — 1.1× the size. Ameren Corporation trades at the lower P/E: 17.3× against 21.7×. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 7.10% against 3.76%. Ameren Corporation has the higher net margin (17.9% vs 11.6%) and the higher return on invested capital (3.95% vs 3.89%). Both pay a dividend; Ameren Corporation yields more (3.70% vs 2.76%). Across the 22 metrics below, Ameren Corporation leads on 17 and CenterPoint Energy, Inc. on 5.

Valuation

Metric AEE CNP Utilities Regulated Electric median
P/E 17.35 21.67 18.84
P/S 3.14 2.52 2.52
P/B 1.99 2.07 1.63
Price to free cash flow n/m n/m 36.22
EV/EBITDA 12.22 12.41 11.82
EV/Sales 5.50 5.03 4.58
Earnings yield 5.77% 4.61% 5.30%
Free cash flow yield (5.27%) (12.61%) (5.06%)

Profitability

Metric AEE CNP Utilities Regulated Electric median
Gross margin 73.71% 78.59% 66.28%
Operating margin 24.87% 23.24% 21.79%
Net margin 17.86% 11.61% 12.94%
Free cash flow margin (16.57%) (31.73%) (11.51%)
Return on equity 11.90% 9.82% 9.75%
Return on assets 3.19% 2.42% 2.75%
Return on invested capital 3.95% 3.89% 3.87%

Growth

Metric AEE CNP Utilities Regulated Electric median
Revenue growth (TTM) 3.76% 7.10% 7.43%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 21.04% 1.27% —
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 8.72% 4.75% 6.75%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 10.82% 0.00% 6.44%

Health

Metric AEE CNP Utilities Regulated Electric median
Debt to equity 1.49 2.10 1.53
Current ratio 0.53 1.12 0.81
Net debt to EBITDA 5.16 6.16 5.25

Dividend

Metric AEE CNP Utilities Regulated Electric median
Dividend yield 3.70% 2.76% 4.33%
Payout ratio 0.57 0.64 0.66

Size

Metric AEE CNP Utilities Regulated Electric median
Market cap 27.46b 24.25b 22.90b

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