CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,960,000 shares, a decline of 5.7% from the October 15th total of 12,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNP has been the topic of several recent research reports. TheStreet lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Mizuho lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $29.00 in a report on Monday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David J. Lesar purchased 37,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.12 per share, with a total value of $1,003,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 37,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,003,440. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO David J. Lesar purchased 37,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.12 per share, with a total value of $1,003,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 37,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,003,440. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jason P. Wells acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.91 per share, for a total transaction of $269,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,495,119.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 176.7% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 137.5% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 117.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.96% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

CNP stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,165,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,091,211. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market cap of $17.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $27.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.56. CenterPoint Energy has a fifty-two week low of $25.42 and a fifty-two week high of $31.52.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 10.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.00%.

About CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Energy, Inc operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through Electric and Natural Gas segments. 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.