CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.18.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP opened at $28.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.01. CenterPoint Energy has a twelve month low of $25.42 and a twelve month high of $31.43.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 10.44%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 58.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 302.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 159,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,565,000 after purchasing an additional 120,085 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,209,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,559,000 after purchasing an additional 256,820 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $399,000. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 37.5% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,540,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,361,000 after buying an additional 420,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA now owns 416,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,912,000 after buying an additional 102,271 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.