CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday.

CNP has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and raised their target price for the company from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $30.18.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of CNP opened at $29.45 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. CenterPoint Energy has a 12 month low of $25.42 and a 12 month high of $31.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $28.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.07. The firm has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.91.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 11.03%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. Analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of CenterPoint Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $166,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,203 shares in the company, valued at $623,792.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% during the 1st 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. Tobam purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 634.9% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 91.77% of the stock is 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.