CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Given New $30.00 Price Target at Barclays

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $29.00 to $30.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Guggenheim cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of 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 research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock 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 issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.46.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE CNP opened at $32.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.72. CenterPoint Energy has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $33.12. The stock has a market cap of $21.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is currently 55.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by 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.