CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 18.61% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI upgraded CenterPoint Energy from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group upgraded 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.46.

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CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CNP traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $35.41. The stock had a trading volume of 3,214,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,417,468. The company has a market capitalization of $23.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.65. The company's 50-day moving average is $34.26 and its 200 day moving average is $32.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. CenterPoint Energy has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $38.25.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 6,084 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,000. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $137,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $10,453,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 309,063 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,807,000 after buying an additional 78,969 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.