CenterPoint Energy, Inc. operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through Electric and Natural Gas segments. The Electric segment includes electric transmission and distribution services to electric customers and electric generation assets, as well as assets in the wholesale power market. The Natural Gas segment provides natural gas distribution services, as well as home appliance maintenance and repair services to customers in Minnesota; and home repair protection plans to natural gas customers in Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas and Louisiana through a third party. This segment also engages in the sale of regulated intrastate natural gas, and transportation and storage of natural gas for residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation customers. As of December 31, 2021, it served approximately 2.7 million metered customers; owned 239 substation sites with a total installed rated transformer capacity of 71,241 megavolt amperes; operated approximately 1,00,000 linear miles of natural gas distribution and transmission mains; and owned and operated 285 miles of intrastate pipeline in Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 1.2 %
CNP traded up $0.38 on Friday, hitting $32.29. 73,805 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,302,617. CenterPoint Energy has a twelve month low of $24.33 and a twelve month high of $33.00. The company has a market cap of $20.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.84.
CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP - Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 18.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.
CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 18th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 17th. CenterPoint Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.98%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have commented on CNP. StockNews.com raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 10th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 19th. Barclays lowered their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 18th. Credit Suisse Group assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, April 25th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.83.