CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Receives $29.91 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.91.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 38.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,602,621 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $302,070,000 after acquiring an additional 2,961,464 shares in the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $63,758,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 46.6% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,666,563 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $144,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,484,079 shares in the last quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,548,000. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,188,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CNP stock traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $30.11. 4,832,074 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,406,009. CenterPoint Energy has a 12 month low of $25.41 and a 12 month high of $31.57. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $28.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.89. The stock has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. CenterPoint Energy's payout ratio is presently 59.15%.

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.