CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Now Covered by Analysts at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $34.50 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

CNP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.27.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $31.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $20.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.41. CenterPoint Energy has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $33.00.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNP. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,083,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $442,231,000 after acquiring an additional 370,790 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.2% in the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 5,009,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $147,387,000 after purchasing an additional 247,944 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 46.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,484,079 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.3% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,043,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $125,275,000 after purchasing an additional 53,655 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,398,000 after buying an additional 110,905 shares during 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.