Central Puerto (NYSE:CEPU) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Shares of Central Puerto S.A. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:CEPU) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $11.68, but opened at $12.54. Central Puerto shares last traded at $12.58, with a volume of 17,765 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CEPU. Wall Street Zen downgraded Central Puerto from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Central Puerto in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Central Puerto from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Central Puerto presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.75.

Central Puerto Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $13.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.58.

Central Puerto Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 28th will be issued a $1.0758 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 28th. Central Puerto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Central Puerto during the second quarter worth $159,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Central Puerto by 285.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 132,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,235,000 after acquiring an additional 98,380 shares in the last quarter. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new stake in Central Puerto during the 1st quarter worth $4,814,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Central Puerto in the 1st quarter worth about $271,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in Central Puerto in the 1st quarter worth about $1,349,000. Institutional investors own 2.97% of the company’s stock.

About Central Puerto

Central Puerto SA (NYSE: CEPU) is an Argentine electric power generation company. Its principal business is the development, ownership, operation and maintenance of power generation facilities that supply electricity to Argentina’s wholesale electricity market and other customers under applicable market and contractual arrangements.

The company’s generation portfolio includes conventional thermal power plants, hydroelectric facilities and renewable energy projects. Its operations use technologies such as natural-gas-fired and other thermal generation, hydroelectric power, and wind energy, giving Central Puerto exposure to multiple segments of Argentina’s electricity industry.

Central Puerto was formed during the restructuring and privatization of Argentina’s electricity sector and has expanded its portfolio through acquisitions, new construction and investments in generation capacity.