CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Hold" from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.04.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. 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 for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.28. 9,664,105 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,644,205. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63. CenterPoint Energy has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $39.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

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 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 business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 80,577 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,557,000 after purchasing an additional 2,283 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,484,528 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,104,000 after buying an additional 42,578 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,314,131 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $73,427,000 after buying an additional 569,389 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $265,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 34,577 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 12,563 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by 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.