CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Receives $29.36 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.55.

CNP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank lowered their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $32.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $29.10 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.70. CenterPoint Energy has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $31.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $948,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth $36,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 91,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 2,871 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 4.5% in the second quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 11,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 79,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,475,000 after purchasing an additional 19,686 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.