CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $29.90.

A number of equities analysts have commented on CNP shares. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $30.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. KeyCorp cut CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 163.7% during the 4th 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 period. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% in the first 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. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $26.47 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.81. The company has a market cap of $16.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.20. CenterPoint Energy has a one year low of $25.42 and a one year high of $31.57.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.