CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp cut CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.91.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

CNP stock opened at $30.11 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. CenterPoint Energy has a twelve month low of $25.41 and a twelve month high of $31.57. The company has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $28.13 and a 200-day moving average of $28.89.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNP. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% during 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 last quarter. Pitcairn Co. boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.3% during 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 period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew 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 valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 60.3% during 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 during the period. 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 valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. 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.