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

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

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on CNP. KeyCorp lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an overweight rating to a sector weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a neutral rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on 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, Wells Fargo & Company cut CenterPoint Energy from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $28.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $29.55.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $29.42 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $31.57. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,602,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $302,070,000 after acquiring an additional 2,961,464 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 96.0% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,958,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,666,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428,640 shares in the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $63,758,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 8,030,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $229,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 46.6% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,666,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $144,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,484,079 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.