CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $36.19 and last traded at $35.70, with a volume of 8615283 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CNP. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price target on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.77.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market cap of $22.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $33.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.59.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. Analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.