CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Lifted to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

CNP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI cut CenterPoint Energy from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. 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. Scotiabank dropped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $30.18.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $29.45. 3,650,927 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,725,417. The stock has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $28.18 and its 200-day moving average is $28.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. CenterPoint Energy has a 12 month low of $25.42 and a 12 month high of $31.43.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 11.03%. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 56.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total transaction of $166,811.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,203 shares in the company, valued at $623,792.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. AA Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $200,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $612,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 52.1% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 20,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 6,993 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth $45,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter worth $1,625,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.