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 research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and raised their price target for the company from $29.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Mizuho restated a neutral rating and issued a $29.00 price target (down previously from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $30.18.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP opened at $29.45 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.25. CenterPoint Energy has a 1 year low of $25.42 and a 1 year high of $31.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74, a P/E/G 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.03% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of CenterPoint Energy stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 21,203 shares in the company, valued at $623,792.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Tobam acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth $35,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 634.9% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.