Central Puerto (NYSE:CEPU) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Central Puerto (NYSE:CEPU) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Central Puerto in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.50 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Central Puerto in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.50.

Central Puerto Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CEPU opened at $16.35 on Friday. Central Puerto has a one year low of $7.43 and a one year high of $16.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.15.

Central Puerto (NYSE:CEPU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter. Central Puerto had a net margin of 21.30% and a return on equity of 11.81%. The firm had revenue of $179.60 million for the quarter. Research analysts predict that Central Puerto will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Central Puerto

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Central Puerto by 13.6% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Central Puerto by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 53,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,424 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Central Puerto by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,782,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,504,000 after purchasing an additional 359,121 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Central Puerto during the second quarter worth $1,149,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Central Puerto by 41.1% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 30,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 8,867 shares during the last quarter. 2.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Central Puerto Company Profile

Central Puerto SA engages in the electric power generation in Argentina. It operates through three segments: Electric Power Generation from Conventional Sources, Electric Power Generation from Renewable Sources, and Natural Gas Transport and Distribution. The company generates energy through thermal, hydroelectric, and wind farms.