CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Mizuho set a $42.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised CenterPoint Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.45.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $39.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.95 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. CenterPoint Energy has a 52 week low of $31.76 and a 52 week high of $40.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.38.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 11.37%.The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $240,746.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 65,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,546,354.91. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $254,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 76,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,757,000 after buying an additional 10,277 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 69,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,525,000 after buying an additional 3,821 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 55,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 15,922 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE: CNP) is a Houston-based regulated utility company that provides electric and natural gas delivery services and related infrastructure operations. The company’s principal activities center on the transmission and distribution of electricity in the greater Houston metropolitan area and the distribution of natural gas to customers across several states in the Midwest and South. As a vertically integrated utility, CenterPoint focuses on the reliable delivery of energy through owned and operated networks of lines, pipelines and associated facilities.

CenterPoint’s core businesses include regulated electric transmission and distribution services, regulated natural gas distribution, and the operation and maintenance of energy infrastructure.