CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) PT Lowered to $32.00

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its price objective reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $33.00 to $32.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Scotiabank decreased 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. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and decreased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $29.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Saturday, July 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $30.60.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $29.36 on Tuesday. CenterPoint Energy has a twelve month low of $25.42 and a twelve month high of $31.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.03% and a return on equity of 10.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 21,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $623,792.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNP. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth $33,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by 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.