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

StockNews.com cut shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Thursday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America began coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.91.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of CNP opened at $30.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.20. CenterPoint Energy has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $31.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.89. The company has a market capitalization of $19.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.92.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 12.28%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. 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. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 13,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,195,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 17,787 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 235.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 3,655 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 21,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 21,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 2,290 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.