Brokerages Set CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Target Price at $35.79

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $35.79.

Several brokerages have issued reports on CNP. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CNP stock traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $36.84. The stock had a trading volume of 639,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,532,099. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $36.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. CenterPoint Energy has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $39.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNP. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.