CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Price Target Cut to $29.00

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Scotiabank from $31.00 to $29.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price points to a potential upside of 0.94% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI lowered CenterPoint Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and increased their price target for the company from $29.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.18.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $28.73 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.96 and a 200 day moving average of $27.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The company has a market cap of $18.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy has a 52 week low of $25.42 and a 52 week high of $31.43.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 10.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 634.9% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.