CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Receives $37.38 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.3750.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CNP shares. Wall Street Zen cut CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth $25,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth $26,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $38.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. CenterPoint Energy has a 12 month low of $25.65 and a 12 month high of $39.39. The stock has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $37.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.28.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.16% and a net margin of 10.42%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

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.