CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Given New $34.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its price target trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $35.00 to $34.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on CNP. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.04.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $37.12 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $24.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63. CenterPoint Energy has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $39.31.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 59.06%.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNP. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 12.3% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 10.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,842,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $139,207,000 after purchasing an additional 352,425 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted 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 purchasing an additional 15,922 shares in the last quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $25,541,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $22,244,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.