CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised CenterPoint Energy from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus raised shares of CenterPoint Energy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.13.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP stock traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.27. 5,777,310 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,526,803. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $36.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.35. CenterPoint Energy has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $39.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.57.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 10.80%. The firm 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. Equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $254,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 80,577 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,557,000 after acquiring an additional 2,283 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $223,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 135,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,288,000 after acquiring an additional 6,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,907 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.

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