CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Upgraded at Scotiabank

Scotiabank upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $35.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $30.00.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, August 26th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective for the company. UBS Group upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.27.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CNP stock opened at $31.94 on Thursday. CenterPoint Energy has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $33.00. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.41. The company has a market cap of $20.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.96.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for 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 previous year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 185.7% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 235,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,287,000 after buying an additional 152,878 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 18.7% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 78,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,442,000 after acquiring an additional 12,422 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,564,000. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $908,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,052,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,630,000 after purchasing an additional 124,529 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.