CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Short Interest Up 9.2% in November

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 18,200,000 shares, an increase of 9.2% from the November 15th total of 16,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,290,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on CNP shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $34.50 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.27.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNP. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 60,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,780,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 20,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 1.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 40,054 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,178,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE CNP traded down $0.35 on Tuesday, reaching $31.72. The company had a trading volume of 6,723,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,270,448. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $33.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.71 and a 200-day moving average of $29.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.96.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.63%.

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.