CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.4545.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CNP shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price target on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Mizuho set a $42.00 price objective on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th.

Insider Transactions at CenterPoint Energy

In related news, Director Phillip R. Smith sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $240,746.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 65,577 shares in the company, valued at $2,546,354.91. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNP. Zacks Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 31,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 13,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 3.9% in the second quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 9.0% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 6.7% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 1.1%

CNP stock opened at $39.75 on Monday. CenterPoint Energy has a 52 week low of $31.76 and a 52 week high of $40.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The company has a market cap of $25.95 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.59.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 10.25%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is presently 55.70%.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE: CNP) is a Houston-based regulated utility company that provides electric and natural gas delivery services and related infrastructure operations. The company’s principal activities center on the transmission and distribution of electricity in the greater Houston metropolitan area and the distribution of natural gas to customers across several states in the Midwest and South. As a vertically integrated utility, CenterPoint focuses on the reliable delivery of energy through owned and operated networks of lines, pipelines and associated facilities.

CenterPoint’s core businesses include regulated electric transmission and distribution services, regulated natural gas distribution, and the operation and maintenance of energy infrastructure.