CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.46.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CNP shares. Barclays raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Argus upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $36.83 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $35.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.52. CenterPoint Energy has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $37.70. The stock has a market cap of $24.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.16, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.65.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CNP. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 156.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 45,573,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,446,036,000 after acquiring an additional 27,799,744 shares in the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $164,350,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $158,232,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 1,431.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,408,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,153,000 after acquiring an additional 3,185,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $97,348,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.