PNM Resources, Inc.’sPNM long-term investment plans, phased exit from coal-based generation assets, initiatives to provide reliable and affordable clean power will boost its performance.We issued an updated research report on this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.The company has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 1.19%, on average. However, long-term earnings growth of the company is pegged at 6.10%.What’s Driving the Stock?PNM Resources continues to invest substantially in its utility assets to provide reliable services to its customers. It plans to invest $3.3 billion through 2020 to 2023. These investments led to 8.9% rate base growth. The company also expects 5-6% earnings growth rate in the same time frame.The company’s strong earnings will enable management to reward its shareholders. The board of directors aims for 5-6% growth in dividend rate over the 2020-2023 time period in-line with earnings growth. The company is targeting a long-term dividend payout ratio of 50% to 60%.During the current economic crisis, the company requires enough liquidity to meet the near-term obligations. PNM Resources, through its multi-year revolving credit facilities, cash balances and the forward equity ensured $1.2 billion liquidity, which is enough to meet short-term obligations and fund capital investments.PNM Resources has a long-standing expertise in fulfilling environmental regulations. The company is focused to develop cost effective power generation units to provide reliable and affordable power. It is focused on exiting from its coal-fired generation by 2031 and have an emissions-free generating portfolio by 2040.However, risk of operating in nuclear plants and stringent environmental policies and regulations related to climate change remain headwinds for the company.Price PerformanceIn the past 12 months, shares of the company have lost 16.7% compared with the industry’s decline of 4.7%.Stocks to ConsiderA few better-ranked stocks from the same sectorare Southwest Gas Corporation SWX, Sempra Energy SRE and NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE. All three stocks hold a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present.The long-term earnings growth rate of Southwest Gas, Sempra Energy and NextEra Energy is pegged at 6%, 6.90% and 7.70%, respectively.Southwest Gas, Sempra Energy and NextEra Energy have a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 3.92%, 32.76% and 7.69%, respectively, on average.More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2021.Click here for the 6 trades >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Sempra Energy (SRE): Free Stock Analysis Report Southwest Gas Corporation (SWX): Free Stock Analysis Report NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE): Free Stock Analysis Report PNM Resources, Inc. Holding Co. (PNM): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research