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

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $33.13 and last traded at $33.12, with a volume of 1037720 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CNP. UBS Group upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.46.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $21.80 billion, a PE ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $32.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.06.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 11.7% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 21,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 2,290 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 21,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 235.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 3,655 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,195,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 17,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 15.1% during the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 13,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.