CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) PT Lowered to $28.00 at Scotiabank

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its target price cut by Scotiabank from $29.00 to $28.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on CNP. KeyCorp downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an overweight rating to a sector weight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, August 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered CenterPoint Energy from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the company from $32.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered CenterPoint Energy from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $28.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $29.64.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 3.1 %

CNP stock opened at $26.94 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. CenterPoint Energy has a 12-month low of $25.41 and a 12-month high of $31.57. The company has a market cap of $17.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 56.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNP. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 15,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% during the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 19,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake 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 valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently 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.