CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Downgraded to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on CNP. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $30.70.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:CNP opened at $28.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy has a fifty-two week low of $25.42 and a fifty-two week high of $31.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.03% and a return on equity of 10.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of CenterPoint Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $166,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,203 shares in the company, valued at $623,792.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 27,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 7,823 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,759 shares during the period. Cedar Brook Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $276,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,209,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,559,000 after purchasing an additional 256,820 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 302.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 159,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,565,000 after purchasing an additional 120,085 shares during the period. 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.