CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.73.

Several brokerages recently commented on CNP. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down previously from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of CenterPoint Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total transaction of $166,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $623,792.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 15,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.7% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 52,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 40,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 10,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

CNP stock opened at $29.54 on Wednesday. CenterPoint Energy has a 12 month low of $25.42 and a 12 month high of $31.43. The firm has a market cap of $18.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.03% and a return on equity of 10.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.34%.

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.