Central Puerto (NYSE:CEPU) Stock Rating Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Central Puerto (NYSE:CEPU) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Central Puerto in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Central Puerto from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Central Puerto presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.00.

Central Puerto Trading Up 4.8%

CEPU traded up $0.49 on Friday, hitting $10.80. 676,502 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 312,190. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.28. Central Puerto has a 12 month low of $9.61 and a 12 month high of $18.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.85.

Central Puerto (NYSE:CEPU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 11th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $523.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $223.51 million. Central Puerto had a return on equity of 15.75% and a net margin of 22.93%. Sell-side analysts expect that Central Puerto will post 2.00 earnings per share for the current year.

Central Puerto Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 28th were issued a dividend of $1.0758 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 28th. Central Puerto’s payout ratio is currently 30.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Central Puerto during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $159,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Central Puerto by 285.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 132,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,235,000 after acquiring an additional 98,380 shares during the period. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in shares of Central Puerto in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,814,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Central Puerto in the 1st quarter worth approximately $271,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Central Puerto in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,349,000. Institutional investors own 2.97% of the company’s stock.

About Central Puerto

Central Puerto S.A. is an Argentina-based electric power generation company. It operates power plants that produce electricity for the country’s wholesale electricity market, serving utilities, businesses and other users through Argentina’s electricity system. The company’s generation portfolio includes thermal, hydroelectric and renewable energy assets, including wind and solar facilities. Its thermal plants use fuels such as natural gas, while its renewable operations add electricity from non-fossil sources to the portfolio.