CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.00.

CNP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $166,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $623,792.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNP. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% during 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 period. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $28.28 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $18.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy has a 1-year low of $25.42 and a 1-year high of $31.57.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.03% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.34%.

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.