Brokerages Set CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Price Target at $31.27

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.27.

CNP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. Bank of America initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target on the stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP stock opened at $31.64 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.56. The firm has a market cap of $20.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.95. CenterPoint Energy has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $33.00.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.28%.

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.