CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $36.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. CenterPoint Energy traded as high as $35.79 and last traded at $35.78, with a volume of 312892 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.48.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price for the company. UBS Group raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded CenterPoint Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.50.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,484,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,104,000 after acquiring an additional 42,578 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the third quarter worth $908,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 1.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,898,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,863,000 after buying an additional 24,400 shares in the last quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $265,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $705,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.24. The company has a market capitalization of $23.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.