CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Price Target Raised to $34.00 at Morgan Stanley

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $32.00 to $34.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.77.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

CNP stock opened at $35.93 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. CenterPoint Energy has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $35.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.36.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.