Morgan Stanley Lowers CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Price Target to $34.00

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its price target cut by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $35.00 to $34.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential downside of 8.66% from the company’s previous close.

CNP has been the topic of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Barclays upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Argus raised shares of CenterPoint Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.04.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CenterPoint Energy stock opened at $37.23 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $36.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.91. The company has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.08. CenterPoint Energy has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $39.31.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,842,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,207,000 after buying an additional 352,425 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 55,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,995,000 after buying an additional 15,922 shares during the last quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,541,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $22,244,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

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.