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

Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.55.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised 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 reduced their price target for the company from $32.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

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

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change 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 is Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CNP. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 433,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,372,000 after purchasing an additional 115,029 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 106,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,046,000 after purchasing an additional 12,178 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 68,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,961,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.