CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,670,000 shares, a decrease of 8.4% from the October 31st total of 18,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,083,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $442,231,000 after buying an additional 370,790 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 5,009,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $147,387,000 after acquiring an additional 247,944 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 46.6% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,666,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $144,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484,079 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,043,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $125,275,000 after acquiring an additional 53,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $116,398,000 after purchasing an additional 110,905 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.58.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

CNP stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.14. 3,865,437 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,317,274. CenterPoint Energy has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $33.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.28.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

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.