CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI lowered CenterPoint Energy from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and boosted their target price for the company from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Guggenheim decreased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $30.18.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CNP stock traded up $0.05 on Thursday, hitting $29.45. 3,650,927 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,725,417. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.25. CenterPoint Energy has a twelve month low of $25.42 and a twelve month high of $31.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $28.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.91.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,670 shares of CenterPoint Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,203 shares in the company, valued at $623,792.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AA Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $200,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $612,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 52.1% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 20,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 6,993 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at $1,625,000. Hedge funds and other 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.