CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Holdings Lowered by Old Port Advisors

Old Port Advisors lessened its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 331 shares during the quarter. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,564,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in CenterPoint Energy during the third quarter valued at about $908,000. Swiss National Bank raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,898,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,863,000 after acquiring an additional 24,400 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in CenterPoint Energy by 13.4% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,052,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,630,000 after acquiring an additional 124,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $705,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CNP stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $31.61. The stock had a trading volume of 525,833 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,856,281. The firm has a market cap of $20.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.96. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $33.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. This is an increase from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. CenterPoint Energy’s payout ratio is presently 58.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on CNP shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank raised shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.27.

CenterPoint Energy 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.