Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, electric and gas utility TECO Energy (NYSE: TE) has received a distressing two-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at TECO and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
TECO facts
|
Headquarters (founded) |
Tampa, Fla. (1899) |
|
Market Cap |
$4.0 billion |
|
Industry |
Electric utilities |
|
Trailing-12-Month Revenue |
$3.0 billion |
|
Management |
CEO John Ramil CFO Sandra Callahan |
|
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) |
10.7% |
|
Cash/Debt |
$200.5 million / $3.0 billion |
|
Dividend Yield |
4.8% |
|
Competitors |
NextEra Energy Southern |
Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 10% of the 241 members who have rated TECO believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward.
Just yesterday, one of those bears, fellow Fool Justin Loiseau (TMFJLo), tapped the stock as an unattractive short-term opportunity:
TECO's stock has risen sharply recently as higher natural gas prices make coal more competitive. With 61% of generation capacity coming from coal + 9M tons annual coal mine production, TECO will most definitely benefit in the short run. But I'm making an underperform call because I think TECO might get stuck in a coal rut, where price structures keep it entrenched with coal long after other utilities have diversified and modernized. It might take a while for this to happen, and I'm not positive where TECO's share price will head in the next year.
