Scotiabank Increases CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Price Target to $30.00

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Scotiabank from $28.00 to $30.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on CNP. Bank of America assumed 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 on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut CenterPoint Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.09.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE CNP traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $29.43. 5,048,502 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,377,724. The company has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.99. CenterPoint Energy has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $31.57. The firm's 50-day moving average is $28.66 and its 200-day moving average is $28.98.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNP. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.