CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $32.61 and last traded at $32.60, with a volume of 1872513 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.48.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.88 and a 200 day moving average of $29.20. The stock has a market cap of $21.29 billion, a PE ratio of 21.63, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid 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 yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.63%.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% in the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 19,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 60,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,780,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 20,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.