CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Short Interest Up 18.7% in August

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,290,000 shares, an increase of 18.7% from the August 15th total of 11,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,750,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP stock opened at $29.15 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.88. CenterPoint Energy has a one year low of $25.03 and a one year high of $33.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.89.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CenterPoint Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is 66.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pinebridge Investments L.P. bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 127.9% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 176.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in CenterPoint Energy by 137.5% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Mizuho lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Barclays initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lowered CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 6th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.10.

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.