CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.50.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.50 price objective for the company.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:CNP opened at $35.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.24. CenterPoint Energy has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $35.88. The company has a market capitalization of $23.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. On average, analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 77.6% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 22,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 9,619 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 15.2% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.4% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 20,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 7.5% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 10.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 94,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,772,000 after buying an additional 8,534 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.