CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Short Interest Down 6.0% in October

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) saw a significant decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,190,000 shares, a decrease of 6.0% from the October 15th total of 19,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $31.42 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $20.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $31.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.98%.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at $265,000. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 5.4% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 16,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 66.8% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 22,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 8,917 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 487.8% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 40,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 33,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 672,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,163,000 after buying an additional 39,022 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CNP. KeyCorp lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.09.

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.