CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Lifted to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

CNP has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a neutral rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued a market perform rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered CenterPoint Energy from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $28.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $29.36.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CNP opened at $28.17 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $31.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.20.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth $35,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.