CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Sunday morning.

CNP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Mizuho set a $42.00 target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.82.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of CNP opened at $42.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.89, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.59. CenterPoint Energy has a one year low of $33.24 and a one year high of $42.57. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.70%.

Institutional Trading of CenterPoint Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Zacks Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 31,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 13,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 3.9% in the second quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

About CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE: CNP) is a Houston-based regulated utility company that provides electric and natural gas delivery services and related infrastructure operations. The company’s principal activities center on the transmission and distribution of electricity in the greater Houston metropolitan area and the distribution of natural gas to customers across several states in the Midwest and South. As a vertically integrated utility, CenterPoint focuses on the reliable delivery of energy through owned and operated networks of lines, pipelines and associated facilities.

CenterPoint’s core businesses include regulated electric transmission and distribution services, regulated natural gas distribution, and the operation and maintenance of energy infrastructure.