What Does Centrica plc's (LON:CNA) Share Price Indicate?

Centrica plc (LON:CNA) saw a significant share price rise of over 20% in the past couple of months on the LSE. As a large-cap stock with high coverage by analysts, you could assume any recent changes in the company’s outlook is already priced into the stock. But what if there is still an opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at Centrica’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if the opportunity still exists.

View our latest analysis for Centrica

What's The Opportunity In Centrica?

According to my valuation model, the stock is currently overvalued by about 25%, trading at UK£1.70 compared to my intrinsic value of £1.36. This means that the buying opportunity has probably disappeared for now. If you like the stock, you may want to keep an eye out for a potential price decline in the future. Since Centrica’s share price is quite volatile, this could mean it can sink lower (or rise even further) in the future, giving us another chance to invest. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

What kind of growth will Centrica generate?

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. Though in the case of Centrica, it is expected to deliver a highly negative earnings growth in the next few years, which doesn’t help build up its investment thesis. It appears that risk of future uncertainty is high, at least in the near term.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? If you believe CNA is currently trading above its value, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards its real value can be profitable. Given the risk from a negative growth outlook, this could be the right time to de-risk your portfolio. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on CNA for a while, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. you may want to reconsider buying the stock at this time. Its price has risen beyond its true value, on top of a negative future outlook. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Should the price fall in the future, will you be well-informed enough to buy?

So if you'd like to dive deeper into this stock, it's crucial to consider any risks it's facing. You'd be interested to know, that we found 2 warning signs for Centrica and you'll want to know about them.

If you are no longer interested in Centrica, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.