Short Interest in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Drops By 5.3%

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,720,000 shares, a decrease of 5.3% from the March 15th total of 12,380,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

CenterPoint Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CNP stock opened at $27.40 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.89 and its 200 day moving average is $27.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. CenterPoint Energy has a 12-month low of $25.42 and a 12-month high of $31.43.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 10.55%. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down previously from $30.00) on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI cut CenterPoint Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.30.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNP. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 15.6% during the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 268,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,644,000 after acquiring an additional 36,307 shares in the last quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the first quarter valued at $779,000. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 111,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,164,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 103,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,952,000 after buying an additional 2,507 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.