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

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the ten analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.90.

CNP has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank decreased their price target 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. KeyCorp cut CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $29.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut CenterPoint Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $26.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.20. CenterPoint Energy has a 1 year low of $25.42 and a 1 year high of $31.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.81.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.