CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Downgraded to “Sell” at StockNews.com

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on CNP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank dropped their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.91.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNP opened at $30.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.86. CenterPoint Energy has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $31.57. The company has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% during the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 19,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 19,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.