Central Puerto (NYSE:CEPU) Stock Price Up 4.8% – Time to Buy?

Central Puerto S.A. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:CEPU)’s stock price was up 4.8% during trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $10.71 and last traded at $10.8050. Approximately 403,698 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 31% from the average session volume of 307,890 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on CEPU shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Central Puerto from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Central Puerto in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Central Puerto from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.00.

Central Puerto Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.35. 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 (NYSE:CEPU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 11th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $523.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $223.53 million. Central Puerto had a return on equity of 15.75% and a net margin of 22.93%. On average, equities analysts expect that Central Puerto S.A. Sponsored ADR will post 2.00 EPS for the current year.

Central Puerto Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Central Puerto

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Central Puerto during the 1st quarter valued at about $6,084,000. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new position in Central Puerto in the first quarter worth about $4,814,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Central Puerto by 285.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 132,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,235,000 after purchasing an additional 98,380 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in Central Puerto during the first quarter worth about $1,349,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Central Puerto during the first quarter valued at approximately $271,000. 2.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.