CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.46.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Up 0.0 %

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 simple moving average is $32.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 25.7% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 13,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in 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.