Brokerages Set CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) PT at $31.65

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eleven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.65.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CNP shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upgraded 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CNP opened at $34.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. CenterPoint Energy has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $34.39. The stock has a market cap of $22.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.35.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNP. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.