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

Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine equities research 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 covered the stock in the last year is $36.04.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CNP shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays upgraded CenterPoint Energy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Argus upgraded CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNP. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 40,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,344,000 after buying an additional 1,955 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 85,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,721,000 after buying an additional 2,069 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 72.9% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 382,811 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,147,000 after purchasing an additional 161,461 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CenterPoint Energy stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $36.41. 6,990,016 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,656,166. CenterPoint Energy has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $39.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $23.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $37.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.96.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. On average, analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.06%.

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.