CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $32.61 and last traded at $32.60, with a volume of 1872513 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on CNP shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $21.20 billion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.