CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $33.09 and last traded at $33.09, with a volume of 2750413 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.27.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $21.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.49, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.95.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 55.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,083,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $442,231,000 after acquiring an additional 370,790 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 5.2% in the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 5,009,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $147,387,000 after purchasing an additional 247,944 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $116,398,000 after purchasing an additional 110,905 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,177,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,478,000 after buying an additional 65,139 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,611,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,914,000 after buying an additional 200,693 shares during 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.