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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Sunday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on CNP. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded 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 research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Scotiabank cut their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp lowered CenterPoint Energy from an overweight rating to a sector weight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a market perform rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $29.55.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP opened at $29.50 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $18.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.65 and a 200 day moving average of $28.80. CenterPoint Energy has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $31.57.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its 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. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,961,464 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 96.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,958,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,666,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428,640 shares in the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $63,758,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 8,030,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $229,436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 46.6% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,666,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $144,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484,079 shares in the last quarter. 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.