CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Receives $41.64 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.7273.

Several research analysts have recently commented on CNP shares. Mizuho set a $42.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE CNP opened at $39.03 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.38. CenterPoint Energy has a 12 month low of $31.58 and a 12 month high of $40.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.34.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 11.37%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 58.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CenterPoint Energy

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total value of $240,746.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 65,577 shares in the company, valued at $2,546,354.91. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth $26,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter valued at $26,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 107.9% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE: CNP) is a Houston-based regulated utility company that provides electric and natural gas delivery services and related infrastructure operations. The company’s principal activities center on the transmission and distribution of electricity in the greater Houston metropolitan area and the distribution of natural gas to customers across several states in the Midwest and South. As a vertically integrated utility, CenterPoint focuses on the reliable delivery of energy through owned and operated networks of lines, pipelines and associated facilities.

CenterPoint’s core businesses include regulated electric transmission and distribution services, regulated natural gas distribution, and the operation and maintenance of energy infrastructure.