CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Receives $34.46 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.46.

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Argus raised CenterPoint Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $36.83 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.52. CenterPoint Energy has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $37.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $24.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.65.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 80,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,557,000 after purchasing an additional 2,283 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,484,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,104,000 after buying an additional 42,578 shares in the last quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $265,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 34,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 12,563 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 847,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,930,000 after acquiring an additional 56,037 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.