CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $31.62 and last traded at $31.46, with a volume of 70939 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CNP. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.09.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $20.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.12.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. Analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.98%.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 82.2% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 17,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 8,110 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter valued at $1,816,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,083,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $442,231,000 after acquiring an additional 370,790 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 40,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the period. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 5,009,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $147,387,000 after purchasing an additional 247,944 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.