Wall Street Zen Upgrades CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) to Hold

Key Points

• CenterPoint Energy was upgraded from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a more favorable outlook for the stock.
• Analysts have set target prices for the stock ranging from $41.00 to $45.00, reflecting a consensus price target of $41.25.
• The company reported earnings of $0.50 per share, beating expectations, although revenues for the quarter came in below consensus estimates.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Barclays boosted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho set a $42.00 price objective on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.25.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP opened at $39.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The business's 50 day moving average price is $38.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.66. CenterPoint Energy has a 52 week low of $28.57 and a 52 week high of $40.50. The stock has a market cap of $25.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.57.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 11.37%.The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $254,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 29.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,818 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 3,359 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 106.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 74,108 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,685,000 after acquiring an additional 38,292 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.1% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 261,285 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,466,000 after purchasing an additional 12,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 802.1% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is 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.

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