CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 10.85% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on CNP. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.13.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $36.09 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.28. CenterPoint Energy has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $39.31. The stock has a market cap of $23.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.57.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNP. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 21.5% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 17.8% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.6% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 21,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.7% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 13,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 4,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is 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.