CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Raised to “Buy” at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $37.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $31.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.58.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $32.14 on Tuesday. CenterPoint Energy has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $33.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $30.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.28.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 18.5% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 38,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,243,000 after purchasing an additional 6,073 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 82.2% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 17,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 8,110 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $1,816,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,083,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $442,231,000 after purchasing an additional 370,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

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.