CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.18.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CNP. Guggenheim decreased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down previously from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 634.9% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $29.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. CenterPoint Energy has a 52 week low of $25.42 and a 52 week high of $31.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.04.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 10.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.82%.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Electric and Natural Gas. The Electric segment includes electric transmission and distribution services to electric customers and electric generation assets, as well as optimizes assets in the wholesale power market.