CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Price Target Raised to $30.00

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its target price hoisted by Scotiabank from $28.00 to $30.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.09.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $29.52 on Tuesday. CenterPoint Energy has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $31.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.77 and a 200-day moving average of $28.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $19.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 11.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 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, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNP. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $807,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.7% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,531,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,640,000 after acquiring an additional 10,190 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 569,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,232,000 after acquiring an additional 21,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 587,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,203,000 after purchasing an additional 8,624 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by 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.