CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Receives $30.09 Average Price Target from Brokerages

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.09.

A number of research firms have recently commented on CNP. StockNews.com cut CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP stock remained flat at $30.44 during trading on Wednesday. 3,882,773 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,370,523. 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 $19.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $31.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.06.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the second quarter worth about $36,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.