Centrica Share Discussion Threads

[anley] 14/3/2014 15:12

It does NOT own BG which is a different business. Please do not confuse yourself and go on to Google and have a good read on just what BG does.

Just trying to help........

[karateboy] 14/3/2014 11:52

I bought some CNA shares for divi and future growth...one question I have. How come CNA owns BG (British Gas) with market value of £36b , while its own market value is only £17b....

[mitchy] 14/3/2014 11:05

Is Centrica PLC A Super Income Stock?By Peter Stephens - Friday, 14 March, 2014 | See also: CNACPYYY0inShareWith interest rates still at rock bottom and inflation being a persistent threat, shares such as Centrica(LSE: CNA) (NASDAQOTH: CPYYY.US) have proven to be very popular in recent years, as many investors have sought to generate additional income from their portfolio.Indeed, Centrica's yield of 5.3% makes it the 3rd highest yielding share on the FTSE 100. This is partly a result of shares having had a tough few months, with comments made by politicians surrounding the fate of the energy sector causing the share price to underperform the wider market.Much of this political risk now appears to be priced in, as can be seen in Centrica offering a yield that is over 50% better than that offered by the wider index (the FTSE 100?s yield is currently around 3.5%).However, what sets Centrica apart as a super income stock is not only its high yield, both on a standalone basis and relative to its peers, it is the increase in dividends per share that are forecast to come through over the next two years.Indeed, Centrica is forecast to increase dividends per share by 4.6% in 2014 and by 3.9% in 2015. With inflation being around 2% at the moment, Centrica appears to not only offer a great return to income-seeking investors (due to its high yield) but also an inflation-busting increase in dividends per share, too.Furthermore, Centrica is not struggling to make its dividend payments. It could have made them 1.5 times in 2013 and, looked at from another perspective, it could be argued that there is scope for dividends per share to be increased at an even faster rate than is forecast. While it currently pays out just under two-thirds of profit as a dividend, this proportion could be increased and leave shareholders with an even better yield while still leaving Centrica with sufficient capital to reinvest in the business.With shares currently trading on a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of just 12 (versus 13.5 for the FTSE 100) they appear to not only offer a great yield, but decent value, too. More importantly, though, impressive dividend per share growth and the potential to pay out a greater proportion of profits as a dividend mean that Centrica is a super income stock.Of course, Centrica isn't the only super income stock out there. That's why The Motley Fool has written a free and without obligation guide called How To Create Dividends For Life.It's a simple and straightforward way to improve the income generated by your portfolio.You can put it into use straightaway and it might just make 2014 an even better year for your portfolio

[mitchy] 14/3/2014 07:44

Labour's business credentials were dealt a blow in a note on the European energy market from HSBC yesterday. The bank said the decision of Centrica, British Gas's owner, to invest in the US rather than the UK has been "vindicated" by Ed Miliband's pledge last year to freeze energy prices if elected. Analysts said its shift "to higher-producing areas such as Norway and the US and away from the UK" justified its overweight rating, helping the company up 6.9p to 334.8p.HSBC also downgraded the energy provider SSE, off 8p at 1,417p, due to "increasing uncertainty about the implications of a Scottish referendum".Another day, another twist in Vodafone's attempted takeover of the Spanish cable operator Ono. After reports last week that it had tabled a second bid, thought to be between €7bn (£6bn) and €8bn, Ono's shareholders yesterday backed plans for a market listing in Madrid. The company's board are said to be still mulling the bid but it piles the pressure on Vodafone, down 5.15p to 224.4p, to up its offer.The FTSE 100 marked its fifth day of losses yesterday, down 67.12 points at 6,553.78, a five-week low. Retailers led the way down after dire results from WM Morrison spooked investors.One high street regular to make gains was the DIY group Kingfisher, up 4.5p to 407.4p, It was boosted by strong numbers from Home Retail Group, which rose 10.3p to 215.4p as it announced a sales boost at Homebase.Despite falling profits and job cuts, Numis was upbeat on Barclays yesterday, saying it is meeting regulators' capital requirements faster than expected. The bank clicked up 1.9p to 235.65p.On the mid-cap index, the online gambling group bwin.party made gains after revealing it was on track for a return to growth this year. Investors placed their chips on the table and the company rose 4.5p to 126.6p.The Aim-listed Equatorial Palm Oil and KEA Petroleum made big gains on City rumours of impending good news from both. Equatorial jumped 2.37p to 8.75p, while KEA added 0.62p to 2.92p.Gulf Keystone Petroleum slid 23.75p to 120.25p after lowering output guidance on its Shaikan site in Iraq

[mitchy] 13/3/2014 18:26

13 Mar 14Centrica PLC HSBC Overweight ....380.00 Upgrade

[mitchy] 13/3/2014 18:23

FTSE falls to five week low as Morrisons slumps, but Centrica climbsInvestors continue to be nervous over China, Ukraine and Fed taperingNick FletcherThursday 13 March 201416.52 GMTOn another down day for markets, with leading shares at a five week low, British Gas owner Centrica bucked the trend.Its shares added 6.9p to 334.8p after an upbeat note on the business from analysts at HSBC. They said political risks were decreasing, helped by plans to focus investment on the US rather than UK, and there was hidden value in its upstream assets. With an overweight rating and 380p target price, they said:It has been 12 months since Centrica's management announced a strategy announcement to focus investment on the US rather than the UK. This strategy was vindicated by the prospect of intervention in the UK supply market by the Labour party if elected to government in 2015 and the lack of political drive to offer attractive investment incentives for new gas-fired generation. At the full year results on 20 February, management pointed out that 20% of Centrica's customers are already on a fixed-price contract so progress has been made on encouraging customers to fix prices, which helps to mitigate political risk. 

[mitchy] 13/3/2014 14:10

VIDEO: Can Centrica PLC Benefit From The Ukraine Conflict?


By Motley Fool | Thu, 13th March 2014 - 11:00


Champion Shares PRO analysts Nate Weisshaar and Owain Bennallack take a look at a possible bigger-picture investing opportunity that might arise from the Russia/Ukraine conflict for Centrica (LSE:CNA) (NASDAQOTH: CPYYY.US).

[...]

[mitchy] 12/3/2014 17:52

We seem to be easily beating the market at the moment. Not really sure why but i'm not complaining.

[mitchy] 12/3/2014 15:58

Lubbers Transport signs £3m contract with Centrica 11/Mar/2014Lubbers Transport Group announced that it has signed a contract worth £3m with Centrica Energy's exploration & production business.

[mitchy] 12/3/2014 15:24

12 Mar 14Centrica PLCCredit Suisse Neutral 329.15 310.00 310.00This is an upgrade from underperform to Neutral

[mitchy] 12/3/2014 08:15

Yes, round about the time CNA reaches its trading range top of 350. Before then, of course, there will be lots of broker upgrades.(Tongue in cheek)

[kaffee] 12/3/2014 06:15

mitchy,

There will be another MF article along in the next few days saying "Is CNA likely to cut its dividend?" or something like that.

They re-cycle them every few weeks.

[mitchy] 11/3/2014 14:35

Centrica PLC Is A Screaming Buy For Me At These PricesBy Motley Fool | Tue, 11th March 2014 - 09:31It's safe to safe that Centrica (LSE:CNA) (NASDAQOTH: CPYYY.US) has had a tough start to the year. The company has come under a barrage of criticism from politicians, with some even calling for the company to be split up, to give customers a fairer deal.However, while investors are right to be concerned about political intervention in the energy sector, it is unlikely that Centrica will be broken up, leaving the company looking undervalued. A split-up is unlikelyThe threat to break up Centrica is likely to be nothing but political hot air, as initial indications imply that customers will actually be worse off if the split goes ahead. You see, due to Centrica's size, market dominance and reputation, the company has been able to negotiate long-term energy supply contracts with several major gas companies. In total, these contracts are worth more than £60bn, four times the size of Centrica's current market capitalisation. Nevertheless, Centrica has been able to negotiate these contracts at attractive prices, which are for the most part being passed onto customers.As a result, if Centrica were to be split up these contracts would dissolve and it is likely that a smaller company would be unable to secure similar contracts.So, a split up of Centrica is likely to only increase prices for customers, indicating that it is unlikely to go ahead. That being said, it is possible that instead of a break up the regulator will cap the amount of profit Centrica is able to make from retail customers.  Plenty of room for growthEven if a break-up doesn't go ahead, many investors believe that Centrica's future growth prospects are slim but this is not the case.Indeed, it appears as if Centrica has plenty of room to expand around the world with the company's UK operations provide a great springboard to support this growth. In particular, most of Centrica's growth efforts are focused around Direct Energy, Centrica's Canadian gas business bought in 2000, now one of the largest retail energy suppliers in North America. Centrica's management has set a target of doubling Direct Energy's profits during the next three to five years.Moreover, Centrica owns operational gas and oil fields from which the company produced nearly 80m barrels of oil during 2013, giving the company an operating profit of around £1.2bn. Production from these assets is only likely to grow.Valuation is attractiveSo, as Centrica is unlikely to be broken up and the company has plenty of scope for international growth the recent sell-off makes the company attractive on a valuation basis. Specifically, at present the company trades at a historicP/E of 12 and a forward P/E of 11.9 for 2015, making Centrica one of the cheapest company's in the FTSE 100.In addition, at present levels Centrica offers a 5.3% dividend yield, which City analysts believe could rise to 5.6% this year. The payout is covered one-and-a-half times by earnings.Foolish summaryOverall, based on Centrica's low valuation and international growth prospects the company is a clear-cut buy for me at these levels.Reaching Your Retirement GoalsYou have your own dreams for your retirement. But whatever those dreams may be, you need the means to make them real.This exclusive FREE report reveals the 5 shares that The Motley Fool's top analysts believe you need to own today to help you retire on your terms. Because it's never too late (or too early) to work towards reaching your retirement goals. Just enter your email address in the box below for your FREE copy.

[mitchy] 11/3/2014 07:53

Another upgrade...any more to come?

[mitchy] 11/3/2014 07:52

11 Mar 14Centrica PLCBerenberg Buy 328.75 380.00 365.00 Upgrades

[mitchy] 10/3/2014 22:25

U.S Buyers outnumbered Sellers by 4 - 1. Not sure if that means anything.

[mitchy] 10/3/2014 22:12

It's not that wide a range..17% approx

[m4rtinu] 10/3/2014 20:53

Mitchy - not taking any chances by predicting such a wide range?

[mitchy] 10/3/2014 18:50

Nice little move today against a lack lustre market. Can we expect this to continue? Decent buying,at least. The charts aren't showing much in the way of a trend yet but it seems to be following the (edit) guesstimated trading range between 306/8 and 350.

Good Luck.

[portside1] 10/3/2014 08:16

these are cheap great div 5 2% and very happy buy added more last week target back above 400p a cert

[mitchy] 10/3/2014 07:16

10 Mar 14 Centrica PLCCredit Suisse Neutral 0.00 310.00 310.00 Upgrades

[mitchy] 09/3/2014 19:14

By Ed Crooks in New YorkCentrica, the owner of British Gas, is sticking with its plan to double its earnings in North America, in spite of the problems that have hit the business over the past year.Sam Laidlaw, Centrica's chief executive, reaffirmed his ambition to develop the business through organics growth and acquisitions, even though profits from Direct Energy, the North American gas and electricity supply business, fell last year and are expected to be roughly flat this year.The company is still looking for more gasfields in America to hedge against price risk, following the $1bn purchase of oil and gas assets in western Canada last year, but suggested no deals were imminent.Speaking to the Financial Times in Houston, Mr Laidlaw said the plan to double the profits of Centrica's operations in the US and Canada over 2012-17, an objective he set last year, was "still a good long-term target".He rejected the idea that it was no longer possible for the company to grow in Britain because of the political pressure it is under, saying it could do "a lot more" to sell services to customers in the UK and the US, but identified expansion in North America as a central part of the strategy of trying to limit its dependence on political decisions."The North American market is still the largest energy market in the world, and the largest deregulated one, and we've got a lot of opportunities and a lot of running room,' he said.Some analysts have suggested that the target for growth in North America was unlikely to be reached, and that the company would do better to spend money on share buybacks than on investing there.A number of other European utilities, including Eon of Germany and EDF of France, have been pulling out of the US, and the UK's National Grid has suffered a difficult time there.The North American market is still the largest energy market in the world, and the largest deregulated one, and we've got a lot of opportunities and a lot of running room- Sam Laidlaw, Centrica chiefMr Laidlaw argued that those companies had all been running regulated businesses, and suffered as a result."What we're trying to do is something very different, where we enter deregulated markets, where we have the opportunity to innovate and compete, and it is competition that sets the price for our products, rather than a debate with the regulator."He added that "we've probably got a little bit more to do on the acquisition front" to meet his growth target, and was looking at deals both for energy retail and services businesses in deregulated markets, and for more gasfields."I think probably in the northeast [US] this year we will see more businesses going through restructuring," he said."We've got a big presence now in western Canada. If we could find the right opportunity in US shale, we would look at that as well. But so far all the things we have looked at – and we have looked at a lot of a number of years – have been very fully valued."He also said Centrica could sign another contract to buy liquefied natural gas exported from the US, following its deal with Cheniere Energy, which is building a liquefaction plant in Louisiana.However, he added: "We want to focus on getting through the Ferc [the US energy regulator] processes, getting the approvals for Sabine, and then we'll be looking to market that gas, and then we'll think again."

[tamboerskloof] 08/3/2014 19:10

Thanks Mitchy, your posts are appreciated.

[mitchy] 07/3/2014 20:19

Range trading. I don't see any real reason for an uptrend other than the government pushing for fracking now after the Ukraine thing has highlighted our over dependence on Russian Gas and Oil. There may well be subsidies in the offing now for fracking which would be to Centrica's benefit.

China and Warren Buffet have expressed 'an interest' in acquiring stakes in the U.K energy industry but that is old news.

Is all this enough to support an upgrade?...hhmm dunno.

Buy backs on going and divi next month.