Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $34.79 and last traded at $34.78, with a volume of 212494 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $34.38.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages recently commented on CNP. Guggenheim cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $34.50 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.65.
Read Our Latest Research Report on CNP
CenterPoint Energy Price Performance
The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.77. The company has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.
CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.46 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.35%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy
A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 156.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 45,573,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,446,036,000 after acquiring an additional 27,799,744 shares in the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $164,350,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $158,232,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1,431.1% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,408,551 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $108,153,000 after buying an additional 3,185,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,348,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About CenterPoint Energy
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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