CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You 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 $33.09 and last traded at $33.09, with a volume of 2750413 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.27.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.