BMO Capital Markets Has Lowered Expectations for CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Stock Price

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its target price dropped by BMO Capital Markets from $48.00 to $47.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 6.28% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CNP. Evercore set a $45.00 price target on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Truist Financial cut their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.38.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP stock opened at $44.22 on Wednesday. CenterPoint Energy has a 12 month low of $36.59 and a 12 month high of $45.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.28.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.02). CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 522,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,133,000 after purchasing an additional 65,440 shares during the period. Ethos Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,356,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 443,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,173,000 after buying an additional 69,700 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 20,941,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $802,916,000 after buying an additional 235,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,595,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,186,000 after buying an additional 781,849 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Energy, Inc (NYSE: CNP) is a Houston-based regulated utility company that provides electric and natural gas delivery services and related infrastructure operations. The company’s principal activities center on the transmission and distribution of electricity in the greater Houston metropolitan area and the distribution of natural gas to customers across several states in the Midwest and South. As a vertically integrated utility, CenterPoint focuses on the reliable delivery of energy through owned and operated networks of lines, pipelines and associated facilities.

CenterPoint’s core businesses include regulated electric transmission and distribution services, regulated natural gas distribution, and the operation and maintenance of energy infrastructure.