CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Receives $30.80 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.80.

Several research firms have issued reports on CNP. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

Insider Activity at CenterPoint Energy

In other CenterPoint Energy 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 21,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $623,792.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 15,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised 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 valued at $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 4.2% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Pitcairn Co. boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% during the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 19,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $31.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.91. CenterPoint Energy has a twelve month low of $25.42 and a twelve month high of $31.43. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.66.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 11.03%. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. 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.