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

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.18.

Several research analysts have weighed in on CNP shares. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their price target for the company from $29.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CNP stock opened at $29.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $28.09 and its 200-day moving average is $28.04. The stock has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy has a 52-week low of $25.42 and a 52-week high of $31.43.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 10.44%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. 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 boosted 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 acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. 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 shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.