CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $34.09 and last traded at $33.79, with a volume of 5587705 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $33.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CNP shares. Scotiabank raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target on the stock. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.46.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $22.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.22.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. Analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. 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.