CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $36.19 and last traded at $35.70, with a volume of 8615283 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CNP shares. Scotiabank raised CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Evercore ISI raised CenterPoint Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.77.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $23.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.49 and a 200-day moving average of $31.48.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About CenterPoint Energy

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.