CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Receives $29.36 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.55.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $29.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.71. CenterPoint Energy has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $31.57.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 56.34%.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at $948,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 3.3% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 91,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after buying an additional 2,871 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 4.5% during the second quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 11,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 32.7% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 79,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,475,000 after acquiring an additional 19,686 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.