Utilities stock CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) fell sharply yesterday, closing the session down 5% amid heavy trading volume to hit a fresh 52-week low. It's not entirely clear what was behind the selling, but a number of bear notes have come through since yesterday's close.
Last evening Credit Suisse downgraded CNP stock to "neutral" from "outperform," and SunTrust Robinson followed suit this morning by cutting its view on the shares to "hold" from "buy." A couple other price-target cuts have come through, as well, including Mizuho's $2 cut to $28.50. Before all this, analysts were largely bullish, with nine of the 12 in coverage recommending to investors to buy the shares.
Options traders have been jumping on puts recently, meaning they may be betting on more downside for the equity. For example, the 10-day put/call volume ratio is 1.55 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), a number that ranks in the 83rd annual percentile, showing unusual demand for long puts in the last two weeks.
Looking closer at the charts, CenterPoint is selling off again today, down 5% at $25.36, already hitting another annual low of $25.15. This brings the security's November losses to more than 12%.