Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP)

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 3,664 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 837% compared to the average volume of 391 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNP. Guggenheim dropped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. KeyCorp increased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their target price for the company from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.30.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 137.5% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 176.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 117.5% during the third quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $27.70 on Thursday. CenterPoint Energy has a 52 week low of $25.42 and a 52 week high of $31.43. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $27.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.92. The stock has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 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 (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 10.55%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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.