CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on CNP. KeyCorp downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an overweight rating to a sector weight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated a market perform rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $29.55.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP traded up $0.22 on Friday, reaching $30.52. The company had a trading volume of 11,837,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,359,154. 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 has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $31.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.77.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, research 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. 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 2.75%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is 59.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 19,544 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.5% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,224 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% during the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 19,650 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

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.