CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (CNP) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.22 on March 13th

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 17th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.22 per share by the utilities provider on Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21.

CenterPoint Energy has raised its dividend by an average of 1.3% annually over the last three years. CenterPoint Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 48.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect CenterPoint Energy to earn $1.74 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 48.3%.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $31.44 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.82, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.96. CenterPoint Energy has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $33.00.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Scotiabank raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.27.

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.