Analysts Set CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Price Target at $36.04

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.04.

A number of research analysts have commented on CNP shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Argus raised shares of CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE:CNP traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $36.74. The company had a trading volume of 525,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,625,137. The company has a market capitalization of $23.98 billion, a PE ratio of 24.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. CenterPoint Energy has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $39.31. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $37.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.88.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.73 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 10.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNP. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

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.