CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $33.00 and last traded at $32.85, with a volume of 581225 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CNP. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.58.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 1.7 %

The stock has a market cap of $21.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.59, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.28.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.63%.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 19,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 60,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,780,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 20,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by 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.