CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $34.44 and last traded at $34.16, with a volume of 4707396 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.65.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.48.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is presently 55.35%.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 56.8% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 7,538 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 36,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 41,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 10,346 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 106,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,119,000 after purchasing an additional 46,800 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 60,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,780,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. 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.