CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (CNP) Stock Rating Upgraded by BidaskClub

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) was upgraded by equities researchers at BidaskClub from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

CNP has been the topic of several other research reports. J P Morgan Chase & Co assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Investment Research cut CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 15th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised CenterPoint Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $28.82 to $29.00 in a research note on Monday, August 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. CenterPoint Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.78.

Shares of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE CNP) opened at 29.64 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.89. The company has a market capitalization of $12.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17 and a beta of 0.64. CenterPoint Energy has a one year low of $21.83 and a one year high of $29.75.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.07. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 16.45% and a net margin of 6.86%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. CenterPoint Energy’s revenue was up 36.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post $1.34 EPS for the current year.

In other CenterPoint Energy news, CEO Scott M. Prochazka sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total transaction of $28,670.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 3,000 shares of company stock worth $84,560 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Genovese Burford & Brothers Wealth & Retirement Plan Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.3% in the first quarter. Genovese Burford & Brothers Wealth & Retirement Plan Management LLC now owns 9,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.3% in the second quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 12,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Cleararc Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.8% in the first quarter. Cleararc Capital Inc. now owns 10,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.2% in the second quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 4,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Advantus Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.3% in the first quarter. Advantus Capital Management Inc now owns 43,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc is a public utility holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates electric transmission and distribution facilities, and natural gas distribution facilities. The Electric Transmission & Distribution segment provides electric transmission and distribution services to retail electric providers.