Morgan Stanley Cuts CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Price Target to $31.00

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

NYSE CNP opened at $31.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.16. CenterPoint Energy has a fifty-two week low of $25.41 and a fifty-two week high of $32.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

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

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 55.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Boston Partners lifted its position in CenterPoint Energy by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 17,545,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $499,962,000 after purchasing an additional 556,802 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,083,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $442,231,000 after buying an additional 370,790 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 38.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,602,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $302,070,000 after buying an additional 2,961,464 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 5.2% in the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 5,009,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $147,387,000 after acquiring an additional 247,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 46.6% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,666,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $144,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484,079 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.